Serbia

{{see also|Names of the Serbs and Serbia|Origin hypotheses of the Serbs}}

The origin of the name Serbia is unclear. Historically, authors have mentioned the Serbs ({{langx|sr|Srbi}} / Срби) and the Sorbs of Eastern Germany (Upper Sorbian: Serbja; Lower Sorbian: Serby) in a variety of ways: Cervetiis (Servetiis), gentis {{Not a typo|(S)urbiorum}}, Suurbi, Sorabi, Soraborum, Sorabos, Surpe, Sorabici, Sorabiet, Sarbin, Swrbjn, Servians, Sorbi, Sirbia, Sribia, Zirbia, Zribia, Suurbelant, Surbia, Serbulia / Sorbulia among others.{{cite book|last=Petković|first=Živko D.|title=Prve pojave srpskog imena |language= |trans-title=The first occurrences of the Serbian name |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NIozAAAAIAAJ|year=1926 |location=Belgrade |publisher=Štampa Tucović |page=9}}{{cite web|last=Schuster-Šewc|first=Heinz|title=Порекло и историја етнонима Serb "Лужички Србин"|publisher=Пројекат Растко – Будишин|translator=Petrović, Tanja|website=rastko.rs|language=sr|url=http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-lu/jezik/hsuster-srbin.html|access-date=26 June 2017|archive-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913181547/http://rastko.rs/rastko-lu/jezik/hsuster-srbin.html|url-status=live}} These authors used these names to refer to Serbs and Sorbs in areas where their historical and current presence is not disputable (notably in the Balkans and Lusatia). However, there are also sources that have used similar names in other parts of the world (most notably in the Asiatic Sarmatia in the Caucasus).

There exist two prevailing theories about the origin of the ethnonym *Sŕbъ (plur. *Sŕby), one from a Proto-Slavic language with an appellative meaning of a "family kinship" and "alliance", while another from an Iranian-Sarmatian language with various meanings.{{cite journal |last=Łuczyński |first=Michal |date=2017 |title="Geograf Bawarski" — nowe odczytania |trans-title="Bavarian Geographer" — New readings |url=https://rcin.org.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/64469?id=64469 |language=pl |journal=Polonica |volume=XXXVII |issue=37 |page=71 |doi=10.17651/POLON.37.9 |access-date=4 August 2020 |issn=0137-9712 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014203/https://rcin.org.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/64469?id=64469 |url-status=live }}{{cite book|last=Rudnicki|first=Mikołaj|author-link=Mikołaj Rudnicki|title=Prasłowiańszczyzna, Lechia-Polska|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9IeAAAAMAAJ|year=1959|publisher=Państwowe wydawn. naukowe, Oddzia ︢w Poznaniu|language=pl|page=182|access-date=17 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013305/https://books.google.com/books?id=R9IeAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} In his work, De Administrando Imperio, Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus suggests that the Serbs originated from White Serbia near Francia.

From 1815 to 1882, the official name for Serbia was the Principality of Serbia. From 1882 to 1918, it was renamed to the Kingdom of Serbia, later from 1945 to 1963, the official name for Serbia was the People's Republic of Serbia. This was again renamed the Socialist Republic of Serbia from 1963 to 1990. Since 1990, the official name of the country has been the Republic of Serbia.

{{Main|History of Serbia}}

{{further|Timeline of Serbian history}}

{{Main|Prehistoric sites in Serbia|Serbia in the Roman era}}

File:Vinca clay figure 02.jpg figurine, 4000–4500 BC]]

Archaeological evidence of Paleolithic settlements on the territory of present-day Serbia is scarce. A fragment of a hominid jaw found in Sićevo (Mala Balanica) is believed to be up to 525,000–397,000 years old.{{sfn|Roksandic|2011|pp=186–196}}

Approximately 6,500 BC, during the Neolithic, the Starčevo and Vinča cultures existed in the region of modern-day Belgrade. They dominated much of Southeast Europe as well as parts of Central Europe and Anatolia. Several important archaeological sites from this era, including Lepenski Vir and Vinča-Belo Brdo, still exist near the Danube.{{sfn|Chapman|1981|p=}}{{sfn|Srejović|1988|p=}}

During the Iron Age, local tribes of Triballi, Dardani, and Autariatae were encountered by the Ancient Greeks during their cultural and political expansion into the region, from the 5th up to the 2nd century BC. The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled throughout the area in the 3rd century BC. It formed a tribal state, building several fortifications, including their capital at Singidunum (present-day Belgrade) and Naissos (present-day Niš).

The Romans conquered much of the territory in the 2nd century BC. In 167 BC, the Roman province of Illyricum was established; the remainder was conquered around 75 BC, forming the Roman province of Moesia Superior; the modern-day Srem region was conquered in 9 BC; and Bačka and Banat in 106 AD after the Dacian Wars. As a result of this, contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several former Roman provinces, including Moesia, Pannonia, Praevalitana, Dalmatia, Dacia, and Macedonia. Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in the area of modern-day Serbia, second only to contemporary Italy.{{sfn|Kuzmanović|Mihajlović|2015|pp=416–432}} The most famous of these was Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor, who issued an edict ordering religious tolerance throughout the Empire.

File:Gamzigrad - Felix Romuliana (by Pudelek) 7.JPG, 298 AD, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; Some historians believe as many as 18 Roman emperors were born in modern-day Serbia{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-41516191/exploring-serbia-s-rich-and-hidden-roman-history|title=Serbia's rich and hidden Roman history|work=BBC News|access-date=2 February 2020|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726113024/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-41516191/exploring-serbia-s-rich-and-hidden-roman-history|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2016/10/24/traces-of-empire-serbia-s-roman-heritage-10-07-2016/|title=Traces of Empire: Serbia's Roman Heritage|date=24 October 2016|website=Balkan Insight|access-date=2 February 2020|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073521/https://balkaninsight.com/2016/10/24/traces-of-empire-serbia-s-roman-heritage-10-07-2016/|url-status=live}}]]

When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, most of Serbia remained under the Byzantine Empire, and its northwestern parts were included in the Western Roman Empire. By the 6th century, South Slavs migrated into the Byzantine territory in large numbers.{{sfn|Ostrogorsky|1956|p=84}} They merged with the local Romanised population that was gradually assimilated.{{sfn|Stipčević|1977|p=76}}{{sfn|Fine|1991|pp=38, 41}}{{sfn|Miller|2005|p=533}}

{{Main|Sorbs (tribe)|Serbia in the Middle Ages}}

File:Stephan Dusan Coronation Paja Jovanovic.png, known as Dušan the Mighty, in Skopje, as Emperor of Serbs and Greeks in 1346]]

White Serbs, an early Slavic tribe from White Serbia eventually settled in an area between the Sava river and the Dinaric Alps.{{sfn|Fine|1991|pp=52–53}}{{sfn|Ivić|1995|p=9}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=11}} By the beginning of the 9th century, Serbia achieved a level of statehood.{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=141}} Christianisation of Serbia was a gradual process, finalised by the middle of the 9th century.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=15–17}} In the mid-10th-century, the Serbian state experienced a fall. During the 11th and 12th century, Serbian state frequently fought with the neighbouring Byzantine Empire.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=23–24}} Between 1166 and 1371, Serbia was ruled by the Nemanjić dynasty, under whom the state was elevated to a kingdom in 1217,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=38}} and an empire in 1346,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=64}} under Stefan Dušan. The Serbian Orthodox Church was organised as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=28}} through the effort of Sava, the country's patron saint, and in 1346 it was raised to the Patriarchate. Monuments of the Nemanjić period survive in many monasteries (several being World Heritage sites) and fortifications.

During these centuries the Serbian state (and influence) expanded significantly. The northern part (modern Vojvodina), was ruled by the Kingdom of Hungary. The period after 1371, known as the Fall of the Serbian Empire saw the once-powerful state fragmented into several principalities, culminating in the Battle of Kosovo (1389) against the rising Ottoman Empire.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=84–85}} By the end of the 14th century, the Turks had conquered and ruled the territories south of the Šar Mountains. The political stronghold of Serbia shifted northwards, when the capital of the newly established Serbian Despotate was transferred to Belgrade in 1403,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=89}} before moving to Smederevo in 1430.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=90}} The Despotate was then under the double vassalage of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=101}} The fall of Smederevo on 20 June 1459, which marked the full conquest of the Serbian Despotate by the Ottomans, also symbolically signified the end of the Serbian state.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=108}}

{{Main|Ottoman Serbia|Great Migrations of the Serbs}}

File:Battle of Kosovo, Adam Stefanović, 1870.jpg in 1389 is particularly important to Serbian history, tradition and national identity{{cite book|first=Isabelle|last=Dierauer|title=Disequilibrium, Polarization, and Crisis Model: An International Relations Theory Explaining Conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCuDsecLWmYC|date=16 May 2013|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-6106-5|page=88|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-date=31 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013434/https://books.google.com/books?id=GCuDsecLWmYC|url-status=live}}]]

In all Serbian lands conquered by the Ottomans, the native nobility was eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman rulers, while much of the clergy fled or were confined to the isolated monasteries. Under the Ottoman system, Serbs and Christians were considered an inferior class and subjected to heavy taxes, and a portion of the Serbian population experienced Islamisation. Many Serbs were recruited during the devshirme system, a form of slavery, in which boys from Balkan Christian families were forcibly converted to Islam and trained for infantry units of the Ottoman army known as the Janissaries.{{sfn|A ́goston|Masters|2010|p=383}}{{sfn|Riley-Smith|2001|p=251}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|1997|p=6}}{{sfn|Kia|2011|p=62}} The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was extinguished in 1463,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=134}} but reestablished in 1557,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=135–136}}{{sfn|Fotić|2008|pp=519–520}}{{sfn|Sotirović|2011|pp=143–169}} providing for limited continuation of Serbian cultural traditions within the Ottoman Empire, under the Millet system.{{sfn|Runciman|1968|p=204}}{{sfn|Kia|2011|p=115}}

After the loss of statehood to the Ottoman Empire, Serbian resistance continued in northern regions (modern Vojvodina), under titular despots (until 1537), and popular leaders like Jovan Nenad (1526–1527). From 1521 to 1552, Ottomans conquered Belgrade and regions of Syrmia, Bačka, and Banat.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=115, 119}} Wars and rebellions constantly challenged Ottoman rule. One of the most significant was the Banat Uprising in 1594 and 1595, which was part of the Long War (1593–1606) between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=141–142}}{{sfn|Sotirović|2011|pp=163–164}} The area of modern Vojvodina endured a century-long Ottoman occupation before being ceded to the Habsburg monarchy, partially by the Treaty of Karlovci (1699),{{sfn|Pešalj|2010|pp=29–42}} and fully by the Treaty of Požarevac (1718).{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=151}}

File:Serbmigra.jpg, by Paja Jovanović ({{circa|1896}}), depicting the Great Migration of 1690, led by the patriarch Arsenije III Crnojević]]

During the Habsburg-Ottoman war (1683–1699), much of Serbia switched from Ottoman rule to Habsburg control from 1688 to 1690.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=143}} However, the Ottoman army reconquered a large part of Serbia in the winter of 1689/1690, leading to a brutal massacre of the civilian population by uncontrolled Albanian and Tatar units. As a result of the persecutions, several tens of thousands of Serbs, led by the patriarch, Arsenije III Crnojević, fled northwards to settle in Hungary,{{sfn|Katić|2012|p=140}} an event known as the Great Migration of 1690.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=146–147}} In August 1690, following several petitions, the Emperor Leopold I formally granted Serbs from the Habsburg monarchy a first set of "privileges",{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=143–144}}{{sfn|Todorović|2006|pp=7–8}} primarily to guarantee them freedom of religion.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=144}} As a consequence, the ecclesiastical centre of the Serbs also moved northwards, to the Metropolitanate of Karlovci,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=150}} and the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was once-again abolished by the Ottomans in 1766.{{sfn|Jelavich|1983a|p=94}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=177}}

In 1718–39, the Habsburg monarchy occupied much of Central Serbia and established the Kingdom of Serbia as crownland.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=151}} Those gains were lost by the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739, when the Ottomans retook the region.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=176}} Apart from territory of modern-day Vojvodina which remained under the Habsburg Empire, central regions of Serbia were occupied once again by the Habsburgs in 1788–1792.

{{Main|Serbian Revolution|Principality of Serbia|Kingdom of Serbia}}

File:Osvajanje Beograda.jpg, led by Karađorđe and Miloš Obrenović, marked the foundation of modern SerbiaL. S. Stavrianos, The Balkans since 1453 (London: Hurst and Co., 2000), pp. 248–250.]]

The Serbian Revolution for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815.{{sfn|Jelavich|1983a|pp=193–204}}{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|pp=29–32}}{{sfn|Radosavljević|2010|pp=171–178}}{{sfn|Rajić|2010|pp=143–148}} During the First Serbian Uprising (1804–1813), led by vožd Karađorđe Petrović, Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army was able to reoccupy the country.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=179–183}} The Second Serbian Uprising began in 1815, led by Miloš Obrenović; it ended with a compromise between Serbian revolutionaries and Ottoman authorities.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=190–196}} Serbia was one of the first nations in the Balkans to abolish feudalism.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=191}} The Akkerman Convention in 1826, the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 and finally, the Hatt-i Sharif, recognised the suzerainty of Serbia. The First Serbian Constitution was adopted on 15 February 1835, making the country one of the first to adopt a democratic constitution in Europe.{{sfn|Stavrianos|2000|pp=248–250}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=195}} 15 February is now commemorated as Statehood Day, a public holiday.{{cite web |url=https://fim.edu.rs/en/statehood-day-of-the-republic-of-serbia-2019/ |title=Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia 2019 |website=School of Engineering Management (Belgrade) |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073608/https://fim.edu.rs/en/statehood-day-of-the-republic-of-serbia-2019/ |url-status=live }}

Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and Serbs in Belgrade in 1862,{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=214–215}} and under pressure from the Great Powers, by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality, making the country de facto independent.{{sfn|Jelavich|1983a|p=246}} By enacting a new constitution in 1869,{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|p=58}} without consulting the Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the de facto independence of the country. In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, siding with the ongoing Christian uprisings in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|pp=63–64}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=224}}

The formal independence of the country was internationally recognised at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which ended the Russo-Turkish War; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with other Serbian regions by placing Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austro-Hungarian occupation, alongside the occupation of the region of Raška.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=225}} From 1815 to 1903, the principality was ruled by the House of Obrenović, save for the rule of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević between 1842 and 1858. In 1882, Principality of Serbia became the Kingdom of Serbia, ruled by King Milan I.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|p=70}} The House of Karađorđević, descendants of the revolutionary leader Karađorđe Petrović, assumed power in 1903 following the May Overthrow.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|p=73}}

The 1848 revolution in Austria led to the establishment of the autonomous territory of Serbian Vojvodina; by 1849, the region was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|p=203}}

{{Main|Balkan Wars|Serbian Campaign of World War I}}

File:King Peter I of Serbia and the Crown Prince.jpg led the nation during the Great Serbian Retreat in 1915. Serbia lost about 850,000 people, a quarter of its pre-war population.{{sfn|Sudetic|1992|p=28}}]]

In the First Balkan War in 1912, the Balkan League defeated the Ottoman Empire and captured its European territories, which enabled territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Serbia into regions of Raška, Kosovo, Metohija, and Vardarian Macedonia. The Second Balkan War soon ensued when Bulgaria turned on its former allies, but was defeated, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest. In two years, Serbia enlarged its territory by 80% and its population by 50%,{{cite web | title=Serbia – Countries | website=Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum | date=28 June 1914 | url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/countries/20069818/ | access-date=20 June 2021 | archive-date=24 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201017/https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/countries/20069818/ | url-status=live }} it also suffered high casualties on the eve of World War I, with more than 36,000 dead.{{sfn|Hall|2000|p=135}} Austria-Hungary became wary of the rising regional power on its borders and its potential to become an anchor for unification of Serbs and other South Slavs, and the relationship between the two countries became tense.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Young Bosnia organisation, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, on 28 July 1914, setting off World War I.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=246–247}}

Serbia won the first major battles of the war, including the Battle of Cer,{{sfn|Mitrović|2007|p=69}} and the Battle of Kolubara.{{sfn|Mitrović|2007|p=104}} Despite initial success, it was eventually overpowered by the Central Powers in 1915 and Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia followed. Most of its army and some people retreated to Greece and Corfu, suffering immense losses on the way. After the Central Powers' military situation on other fronts worsened, the remains of the Serb army returned east and led a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, liberating Serbia and defeating Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary.{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=250–251}} Serbia, with its campaign, was a major Balkan Entente Power{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Duffy|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/bulgariaatwar_radoslavov.htm|title=First World War.com – Primary Documents – Vasil Radoslavov on Bulgaria's Entry into the War, 11 October 1915|publisher=firstworldwar.com|date=22 August 2009|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073610/https://www.firstworldwar.com/source/bulgariaatwar_radoslavov.htm|url-status=live}} which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria's capitulation.[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Front-koji-za-saveznike-nije-bio-bitan.sr.html Највећа српска победа: Фронт који за савезнике није био битан] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040853/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Front-koji-za-saveznike-nije-bio-bitan.sr.html |date=16 October 2015 }} {{in lang|sr}}

Serbia's casualties accounted for 8% of the total Entente military deaths; 58% (243,600) soldiers of the Serbian army perished in the war.{{cite web |url=http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-1/serbia/organization/1914/ |title=Serbian army, August 1914 |publisher=Vojska.net |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-date=4 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404165301/http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-1/serbia/organization/1914/ |url-status=live }} The total number of casualties is placed around 700,000,{{cite web |url=http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Sudnji-rat.lt.html |title=Tema nedelje: Najveća srpska pobeda: Sudnji rat: POLITIKA |publisher=Politika |date=14 September 2008 |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-date=6 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006193849/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Sudnji-rat.lt.html |url-status=live }} more than 16% of Serbia's prewar size,{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/91040323/|title=Yugoslavia: a country study|date=1992|publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress|isbn=0-8444-0735-6|editor-last=Curtis|editor-first=Glenn E.|edition=3rd|location=Washington, D.C.|oclc=24792849|entry=The Balkan Wars and World War I|pages=27–28|first=Charles|last=Sudetic|access-date=21 May 2021|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020203455/https://www.loc.gov/item/91040323/|url-status=live}} and a majority (57%) of its overall male population.[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Svi-srpski-trijumfi.sr.html Тема недеље : Највећа српска победа : Сви српски тријумфи : ПОЛИТИКА] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040853/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Najvecha-srpska-pobeda/Svi-srpski-trijumfi.sr.html |date=16 October 2015 }} {{in lang|sr}}{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/337249982.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150127121059/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/337249982.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 January 2015 |title=Fourth of Serbia's population dead|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=30 June 1918 |access-date=28 April 2010 |first=Pierre |last=Loti}}{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/04/05/102687236.pdf |title=Asserts Serbians face extinction |work=The New York Times |date=5 April 1918 |access-date=14 November 2010 |archive-date=15 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315165925/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/04/05/102687236.pdf |url-status=live }} Serbia suffered the biggest casualty rate in World War I.{{cite journal|last1=Radivojević|first1=Biljana|last2=Penev|first2=Goran|title=Demographic losses of Serbia in the first world war and their long-term consequences|journal=Economic Annals|date=2014|volume=59|issue=203|pages=29–54|doi=10.2298/EKA1403029R|doi-access=free}}

{{Main|Creation of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}}

The Corfu Declaration was a formal agreement between the government-in-exile of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Yugoslav Committee (anti-Habsburg South Slav émigrés) that pledged to unify Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro with Austria-Hungary's South Slav autonomous crown lands: Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Slovenia, Vojvodina (then part of the Kingdom of Hungary) and Bosnia and Herzegovina in a post-war Yugoslav state. It was signed on 20 July 1917 on Corfu.

File:Velika-narodna-skupstina-1918.jpg, the Serbian Crown Lands in Austria-Hungary, (today's Vojvodina) declared unification with the Kingdom of Serbia on 25 November 1918]]

As the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, the territory of Syrmia united with Serbia on 24 November 1918. Just a day later, the Great People's Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Banat, Bačka and Baranja declared the unification of these regions (Banat, Bačka, and Baranja) with Serbia.{{Cite web |url=http://www.arhivyu.gov.rs/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/leksikon_jugoslavije/konstitutivni_akti_jugoslavije/prvodecembarski_akt.html |title=Arhiv Jugoslavije – 1 December Act, 1 December 1918 |access-date=14 August 2019 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073628/http://www.arhivyu.gov.rs/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/leksikon_jugoslavije/konstitutivni_akti_jugoslavije/prvodecembarski_akt.html |url-status=dead }}

On 26 November 1918, the Podgorica Assembly deposed the House of Petrović-Njegoš and united Montenegro with Serbia.Bojovi, Jovan, Zakonik knjza Danila, Titograd: Istorijski institut Crne Gore, 1982.––––––, Podgorič ka skupština 1918: dokumenta, Gornji Milanovac: Dečje novine, 1989. On 1 December 1918, in Belgrade, Serbian Prince Regent Alexander Karađorđević proclaimed the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, under King Peter I of Serbia.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2002|pp=108–109}}{{sfn|Ćirković|2004|pp=251–252}} King Peter was succeeded by his son, Alexander, in August 1921. Serb centralists and Croat autonomists clashed in the parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. Nikola Pašić, a conservative prime minister, headed or dominated most governments until his death. King Alexander established a dictatorship in 1929 with the aim of establishing the Yugoslav ideology and single Yugoslav nation, changed the name of the country to Yugoslavia. The effect of Alexander's dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs living in Yugoslavia from the idea of unity.{{sfn|Stavrianos|2000|p=624}}

Alexander was assassinated in Marseille, during an official visit in 1934 by Vlado Chernozemski, member of the IMRO. Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II. In August 1939 the Cvetković–Maček Agreement established an autonomous Banate of Croatia as a solution to Croatian concerns.

{{Main|World War II in Yugoslavia|The Holocaust in German-occupied Serbia|Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia}}

In 1941, in spite of Yugoslav attempts to remain neutral, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia. The territory of modern Serbia was divided between Hungary, Bulgaria, the Independent State of Croatia, Greater Albania and Montenegro, while the remainder was placed under the military administration of Nazi Germany, with Serbian puppet governments led by Milan Aćimović and Milan Nedić assisted by Dimitrije Ljotić's fascist organisation Yugoslav National Movement (Zbor).

File:Старо сајмиште 2012-09-09 15-07-54.jpg, a part of the Holocaust in German-occupied Serbia and Genocide of Serbs]]

The Yugoslav territory was the scene of a civil war between royalist Chetniks commanded by Draža Mihailović and communist partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito. Axis auxiliary units of the Serbian Volunteer Corps and the Serbian State Guard fought against both of these forces. The siege of Kraljevo was a major battle of the uprising in Serbia, led by Chetnik forces against the Nazis. Several days after the battle began the German forces committed a massacre of approximately 2,000 civilians in an event known as the Kraljevo massacre, in a reprisal for the attack.

Draginac and Loznica massacre of 2,950 villagers in Western Serbia in 1941 was the first large execution of civilians in occupied Serbia by Germans, with Kragujevac massacre and Novi Sad Raid of Jews and Serbs by Hungarian fascists being the most notorious, with over 3,000 victims in each case.{{sfn|Pavlowitch|2008|p=62}}{{cite news|title=The Kragujevac massacre |first=Karl |last=Savich |url=http://www.pogledi.rs/kragujevac/english/1e.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217101508/http://www.pogledi.rs/kragujevac/english/1e.php |archive-date=17 December 2012 }} After one year of occupation, around 16,000 Serbian Jews were murdered in the area, or around 90% of its pre-war Jewish population during The Holocaust in Serbia.

Many concentration camps were established across the area. Banjica concentration camp was the largest concentration camp and jointly run by the German army and Nedić's regime,{{cite book|first=Raphael|last=Israeli|title=The Death Camps of Croatia: Visions and Revisions, 1941–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M66fG2bhi1AC&pg=PA31|access-date=12 May 2013|date=4 March 2013|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-4930-2|page=31|archive-date=18 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018094222/https://books.google.com/books?id=M66fG2bhi1AC&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} with primary victims being Serbian Jews, Roma, and Serb political prisoners.{{cite web|url=http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu/country/serbia/serbia2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630011836/http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu/country/serbia/serbia2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 June 2010|title=Jewish Heritage Europe – Serbia 2 – Jewish Heritage in Belgrade|publisher=Jewish Heritage Europe|access-date=28 April 2010}}

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs fled the Axis puppet state known as the Independent State of Croatia and sought refuge in German-occupied Serbia, seeking to escape the large-scale persecution and Genocide of Serbs, Jews, and Roma being committed by the Ustaše regime.{{cite web|website=Britannica OnlineEncyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620426/Ustasa|title=Ustaša|publisher=Britannica.com|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-date=26 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426184217/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620426/Ustasa|url-status=live}} The number of Serb victims was approximately 300,000 to 350,000.{{cite book |last=Yeomans |first=Rory |title=The Utopia of Terror: Life and Death in Wartime Croatia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8HEDCwAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-58046-545-8 |page=18 |access-date=19 July 2019 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927204208/https://books.google.com/books?id=8HEDCwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Ustasa |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205904.pdf |publisher=yadvashem.org |access-date=25 June 2018 |archive-date=8 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808002505/https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205904.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web| title=Genocide of the Serbs| url=http://combatgenocide.org/?page_id=86| publisher=The Combat Genocide Association| access-date=27 July 2019| archive-date=9 December 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209115245/http://combatgenocide.org/?page_id=86| url-status=live}} According to Tito himself, Serbs made up the vast majority of anti-fascist fighters and Yugoslav Partisans for the whole course of World War II.{{Cite book |last=Tito |first=Josip Broz |date=1945 |title=Nacionalno pitanje u Jugoslaviji: u svjetlosti narodnooslobodilačke borbe |location=Zagreb |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPsfnQEACAAJ |publisher=Naprijed |language=hr |page=11 |quote=Moram ovdje podvući činjenicu da su u redovima naše Narodno-oslobodilačke vojske i partizanskih odreda u Jugoslaviji, od samog početka pa do danas, nalaze u ogromnoj većini baš Srbi, umjesto da to bude obratno. |access-date=27 September 2020 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013307/https://books.google.com/books?id=MPsfnQEACAAJ |url-status=live }}

The Republic of Užice was a short-lived liberated territory established by the Partisans and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organised as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in the west of occupied Serbia. By late 1944, the Belgrade Offensive swung in favour of the partisans in the civil war; the partisans subsequently gained control of Yugoslavia.{{cite web|author=PM|url=http://www.bulgaria-italia.com/bg/info/storia/partigiani.asp|title=Storia del movimento partigiano bulgaro (1941–1944)|publisher=Bulgaria – Italia|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-date=13 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513161540/http://www.bulgaria-italia.com/bg/info/storia/partigiani.asp|url-status=live}} Following the Belgrade Offensive, the Syrmian Front was the last major military action of World War II in Serbia. A study by Vladimir Žerjavić estimates total war-related deaths in Yugoslavia at 1,027,000, including 273,000 in Serbia.{{cite book |last=Žerjavić |first=Vladimir |title=Yugoslavia: Manipulations with the Number of Second World War Victims |year=1993 |publisher=Croatian Information Centre |url=http://www.hic.hr/books/manipulations/index.htm |isbn=978-0-919817-32-6 |access-date=29 July 2018 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230428/http://www.hic.hr/books/manipulations/index.htm |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Communist purges in Serbia in 1944–45|Tito–Stalin split|Non-Aligned Movement}}

File:Konferencija Pokreta nesvrstanih 1961. godine.jpg Summit Conference took place in Belgrade in September 1961]]

The victory of the Communist Partisans resulted in the abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent constitutional referendum. A one-party state was soon established in Yugoslavia by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. It is claimed between 60,000 and 70,000 people died in Serbia during the 1944–45 communist purge.{{cite web |author=Tanjug |url=http://www.mondo.rs/a622628/Info/Drustvo/Posle-rata-u-Srbiji-streljano-preko-60.000-civila.html |title=Posle rata u Srbiji streljano preko 60.000 civila |date=10 October 2013 |publisher=Mondo.rs |access-date=10 October 2013 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703150848/http://mondo.rs/a622628/Info/Drustvo/Posle-rata-u-Srbiji-streljano-preko-60.000-civila.html |url-status=live }} Serbia became a constituent republic within the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia known as the People's Republic of Serbia, and had a republic-branch of the federal communist party, the League of Communists of Serbia.

Serbia's most powerful and influential politician in Tito-era Yugoslavia was Aleksandar Ranković, one of the "big four" Yugoslav leaders. Ranković was later removed from the office because of the disagreements regarding Kosovo's nomenklatura and the unity of Serbia. Ranković's dismissal was highly unpopular among Serbs. Pro-decentralisation reformers in Yugoslavia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralisation of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognising a distinctive "Muslim" nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs on a large scale. Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the University of Pristina as an Albanian language institution. These changes created widespread fear among Serbs of being treated as second-class citizens.{{cite book |first1=Melissa Katherine |last1=Bokovoy |first2=Jill A. |last2=Irvine |first3=Carol S. |last3=Lilly |title=State-society relations in Yugoslavia, 1945–1992 |location=Scranton, Pennsylvania |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=1997 |pages=295–296, 301}}

Belgrade, the capital of FPR Yugoslavia and PR Serbia, hosted the first Non-Aligned Movement Summit in September 1961, as well as the first major gathering of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with the aim of implementing the Helsinki Accords from October 1977 to March 1978.{{cite book|last=Norris|first=David A|title=Belgrade A Cultural History|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-988849-8|year=2008|page=134}}{{cite book|last1=Bilandžić|first1=Vladimir|last2=Dahlmann|first2=Dittmar|last3=Kosanović|first3=Milan |title=From Helsinki to Belgrade: The First CSCE Follow-up Meeting and the Crisis of Détente|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3-89971-938-3|year=2012|pages=163–184}} The 1972 smallpox outbreak in SAP Kosovo and other parts of SR Serbia was the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe since World War II.{{cite journal|last=Trifunović|first=Vesna|title=Patterns of competitive authoritarianism in the Western Balkans|journal=Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU|date=July 2018|volume=65|issue=1|pages=127–145|doi=10.2298/GEI1701127T|doi-access=free|hdl=21.15107/rcub_dais_7666|hdl-access=free}}

{{Main|Breakup of Yugoslavia|Serbia and Montenegro|Republic of Serbia (1992–2006)|History of Serbia#Independent Serbia (2006–present)}}

File:Stevan Kragujevic, Slobodan Milosevic, portret (cropped).jpg (1941–2006) was a prominent political figure in Yugoslavia. His leadership was controversial, with criticism of continued authoritarianism despite constitutional changes]]

File:Map of war in Yugoslavia, 1992.png and territories of Serb breakaway states Republika Srpska and Republika Srpska Krajina during the Yugoslav wars]]In 1989, Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia. Milošević promised a reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently took over power, during the Anti-bureaucratic revolution.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5np99Vgc0YC&q=anti-bureaucratic+revolution&pg=PA165|title=The Destruction of Yugoslavia: tracking the break-up 1980–92 (pp 165–170)|first=Branka|last=Magaš|year=1993|publisher=Verso|isbn=978-0-86091-593-5|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=31 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013437/https://books.google.com/books?id=d5np99Vgc0YC&q=anti-bureaucratic+revolution&pg=PA165#v=snippet&q=anti-bureaucratic%20revolution&f=false|url-status=live}} This ignited tensions between the communist leadership of the other republics of Yugoslavia and awoke ethnic nationalism across Yugoslavia that eventually resulted in its breakup, with Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia declaring independence during 1991 and 1992.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/world/breakup-of-yugoslavia-leaves-slovenia-secure-croatia-shaky.html|work=The New York Times|title=Breakup of Yugoslavia Leaves Slovenia Secure, Croatia Shaky|first=Stephen|last=Engelberg|date=16 January 1992|access-date=6 April 2010|archive-date=4 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804233306/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/world/breakup-of-yugoslavia-leaves-slovenia-secure-croatia-shaky.html|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=March 2017}} Serbia and Montenegro remained together as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). However, according to the Badinter Commission, the country was not legally considered a continuation of the former SFRY, but a new state.

Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars (1991–2001) erupted, with the most severe conflicts taking place in Croatia and Bosnia, where the large ethnic Serb communities opposed independence from Yugoslavia. The FRY remained outside the conflicts, but provided logistic, military and financial support to Serb forces in the wars. In response, the UN imposed sanctions against Yugoslavia which led to political isolation and the collapse of the economy (GDP decreased from $24 billion in 1990 to under $10 billion in 1993). Serbia was in the 2000s sued on the charges of alleged genocide by neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia but in both cases the main charges against Serbia were dismissed.{{cite web|date=26 February 2007|title=Serbia not guilty of genocide|url=https://humanrightshouse.org/articles/serbia-not-guilty-of-genocide-2/|access-date=21 July 2021|website=Human Rights House Foundation|language=en-US|archive-date=21 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321165449/https://humanrightshouse.org/articles/serbia-not-guilty-of-genocide-2/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|date=3 February 2015|title=UN court dismisses Croatia and Serbia genocide claims|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31104973|access-date=21 July 2021|archive-date=3 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203161525/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31104973|url-status=live}}

File:Kosovo-metohija-koreni-duse029.jpg of the Kosovo War. The war ended with the 1999 NATO bombing, the legitimacy of which remains controversial]]

Multi-party democracy was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially dismantling the one-party system. Despite constitutional changes, Milošević maintained strong political influence over the state media and security apparatus.{{cite web|url=http://hague.bard.edu/reports/de_la_brosse_pt1.pdf|title=Political Propaganda and the Plan to Create a "State for all Serbs"|access-date=14 November 2010|archive-date=12 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051212131608/http://hague.bard.edu/reports/de_la_brosse_pt1.pdf|url-status=live}}Wide Angle, Milosevic and the Media. [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/media-by-milosevic/video-full-episode/852/ "Part 3: Dictatorship on the Airwaves."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009175520/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/media-by-milosevic/video-full-episode/852/ |date=9 October 2014 }} PBS. Quotation from film: "... the things that happened at state TV, warmongering, things we can admit to now: false information, biased reporting. That went directly from Milošević to the head of TV". When the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia refused to accept its defeat in municipal elections in 1996, Serbians engaged in large protests against the government.

In 1998, continued clashes between the Albanian guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army and Yugoslav security forces led to the short Kosovo War (1998–99), in which NATO intervened, leading to the withdrawal of Serbian forces and the establishment of UN administration in the province.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/kosovo/110492.stm|title=History, bloody history|work=BBC News|date=24 March 1999|access-date=27 July 2012|archive-date=25 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125151232/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/kosovo/110492.stm|url-status=live}} After the Yugoslav Wars, Serbia became home to highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe.{{cite web |title=Serbia home to highest number of refugees and IDPs in Europe |date=20 June 2011 |publisher=B92 |url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=75016 |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=26 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082532/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=75016 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Serbia: Europe's largest proctracted refugee situation |publisher=OSCE |url=http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true |access-date=5 May 2020 |archive-date=26 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326082139/http://www.osce.org/serbia/24323?download=true |url-status=live }}{{cite book |first1=S. |last1=Cross |first2=S. |last2=Kentera |first3=R. |last3=Vukadinovic |first4=R. |last4=Nation |title=Shaping South East Europe's Security Community for the Twenty-First Century: Trust, Partnership, Integration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&pg=PP1 |access-date=5 May 2020 |date=7 May 2013 |publisher=Springer |page=169 |isbn=978-1-137-01020-9 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111171651/https://books.google.com/books?id=el-YZHB8hzYC&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }}

After presidential elections in September 2000, opposition parties accused Milošević of electoral fraud.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=R. Jeffrey |title=Yugoslav Election Fraud Alleged |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/09/25/yugoslav-election-fraud-alleged/bca9bca0-e35f-41c0-b554-2b646f4b8584/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=25 September 2000}}{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=R. Jeffrey |title=Milosevic Maneuvers For Election Runoff |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/09/27/milosevic-maneuvers-for-election-runoff/135c9d1c-163d-4282-8662-0308d1653852/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=27 September 2000}} A campaign of civil resistance followed, led by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. This culminated on 5 October when half a million people from all over the country congregated in Belgrade, compelling Milošević to concede defeat.Ivan Vejvoda, 'Civil Society versus Slobodan Milošević: Serbia 1991–2000', in Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 295–316. {{ISBN|978-0-19-955201-6}}. The fall of Milošević ended Yugoslavia's international isolation. Milošević was sent to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The DOS announced that FR Yugoslavia would seek to join the European Union. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro;{{sfn|Miller|2005|pp=529–581}} the EU opened negotiations with the country for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

Serbia's political climate remained tense and in 2003, Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated as result of a plot originating from organised crime and former security officials. In 2004 unrest in Kosovo took place, leaving 19 people dead and a number of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries destroyed or damaged.{{cite web|date=17 March 2015|title=Bitter Memories of Kosovo's Deadly March Riots|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2015/03/17/bitter-memories-of-kosovo-s-deadly-march-riots/|access-date=2 December 2020|website=Balkan Insight|language=en-US|archive-date=14 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114113201/https://balkaninsight.com/2015/03/17/bitter-memories-of-kosovo-s-deadly-march-riots/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Online/Beta|first=Piše: Danas|date=17 March 2020|title=Navršeno 16 godina od Martovskog pogroma na Kosovu i Metohiji|url=https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/navrseno-16-godina-od-martovskog-pogroma-na-kosovu-i-metohiji/|access-date=2 December 2020|website=Dnevni list Danas|language=sr-RS|archive-date=4 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210404044230/https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/navrseno-16-godina-od-martovskog-pogroma-na-kosovu-i-metohiji/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|History of Serbia#Republic of Serbia (2006–present)}}

{{See also|Human rights in Serbia}}

File:Zoran_Đinđić,_Davos.jpg played a key role in the revolution against the Milošević regime and later became the first democratically elected prime minister]]

On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum which showed 55.4% of voters in favour of independence, just above the 55% required by the referendum. This was followed on 5 June 2006 by Serbia's declaration of independence, marking the re-emergence of Serbia as an independent state. The National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia to be the legal successor to the former state union.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5083690.stm|title=Montenegro gets Serb recognition|publisher=BBC|date=15 June 2006|access-date=5 February 2008|archive-date=5 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605015301/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5083690.stm|url-status=live}}

The Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Serbia immediately condemned the declaration and continues to deny any statehood to Kosovo. The declaration has sparked varied responses from the international community.{{cite news|url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/rift-emerges-at-the-united-nations-over-kosovo/71420/|title=Rift Emerges at the United Nations Over Kosovo|newspaper=New York Sun|date=19 February 2008|access-date=26 March 2012|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224143728/https://www.nysun.com/foreign/rift-emerges-at-the-united-nations-over-kosovo/71420/|url-status=dead}} Status-neutral talks between Serbia and Kosovo-Albanian authorities are held in Brussels, mediated by the EU.

Serbia officially applied for membership in the European Union on 22 December 2009,{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/foreign-policy/eu/republic-of-serbia-eu |title=Republic of Serbia – European Union |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs |access-date=24 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506084426/http://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/foreign-policy/eu/republic-of-serbia-eu |archive-date=6 May 2013 }} and received candidate status on 1 March 2012, following a delay in December 2011.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17225415|work=BBC News|title=EU leaders grant Serbia candidate status|date=1 March 2012|access-date=2 March 2012|archive-date=10 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410212127/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17225415|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://euobserver.com/enlargement/115466|title=Serbia gets EU candidate status, Romania gets nothing|publisher=EUobserver|date=2 March 2012|access-date=24 June 2013|archive-date=28 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628101411/http://euobserver.com/enlargement/115466|url-status=live}} Following a positive recommendation of the European Commission and European Council in June 2013, negotiations to join the EU commenced in January 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/137634.pdf |title= conclusions of the European Council (27/28 June 2013) |website=European Council |date= |accessdate=19 November 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705123423/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/137634.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2013}}

In 2012 Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party came to power.{{cite web |title=Serbia: Nations in Transit 2020 Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/nations-transit/2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030120841/https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/nations-transit/2020 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=3 November 2020 |website=Freedom House}}{{Cite web |last=Fruscione |first=Giorgio |date=2 October 2020 |title=Serbia: From Milosevic to Vucic, Return Ticket |url=https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/serbia-milosevic-vucic-return-ticket-27699 |access-date=23 July 2022 |website=ISPI |language=it |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526174631/https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/serbia-milosevic-vucic-return-ticket-27699 |url-status=live }} According to a number of international analysts, Serbia has suffered from democratic backsliding into authoritarianism,{{cite news |url=http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a457849/Freedom-House-ranks-Serbia-as-Partly-Free-in-latest-report.html |website=N1 |title=Freedom House ranks Serbia as Partly Free in latest report |date=5 February 2019 |access-date=5 February 2019 |archive-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020214/http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a457849/Freedom-House-ranks-Serbia-as-Partly-Free-in-latest-report.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite book|last=Voltmer|first=Katrin |title=Media, Communication and the Struggle for Democratic Change: Case Studies on Contested Transitions|publisher=Springer Nature|isbn=978-3-030-16747-9|year=2019|page=6}}{{cite journal |last1=Bieber |first1=Florian |title=Patterns of competitive authoritarianism in the Western Balkans|journal=East European Politics|date=July 2018|volume=38|issue=3|pages=337–54|doi=10.1080/21599165.2018.1490272|doi-access=free}} followed by a decline in media freedom and civil liberties.{{cite journal|last1=Maerz|first1=Seraphine F|display-authors=etal|title=State of the world 2019: autocratization surges – resistance grows |journal=Democratization |date=April 2020|volume=27|issue=6|pages=909–927|doi=10.1080/13510347.2020.1758670|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1=Castaldo |first1=Antonino |last2=Pinna |first2=Alessandra |title=De-Europeanization in the Balkans. Media freedom in post-Milošević Serbia |journal=European Politics and Society |year=2017|volume=19|issue=3|pages=264–281 |doi=10.1080/23745118.2017.1419599 |hdl=10451/30737 |s2cid=159002076|hdl-access=free}} After the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Serbia in March 2020, a state of emergency was declared and a curfew was introduced for the first time in Serbia since World War II.{{cite web|url=http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a579775/Policijski-cas-u-Srbiji-prva-noc.html|title=Prvi put policijski čas od Drugog svetskog rata, građani uglavnom poslušni|date=19 March 2020|website=N1|access-date=16 June 2020|archive-date=19 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119120114/http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a579775/Policijski-cas-u-Srbiji-prva-noc.html|url-status=dead}} In April 2022, President Aleksandar Vučić was re-elected.{{cite news |title='Endlessly happy': Serbia's Vucic claims re-election victory |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/4/endlessly-happy-serbias-vucic-claims-re-election-victory |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |access-date=4 April 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404103532/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/4/endlessly-happy-serbias-vucic-claims-re-election-victory |url-status=live }} In December 2023, President Vučić won a snap parliamentary election.{{Cite news |date=17 December 2023 |title=Serbia election: Vucic claims big election victory for ruling party |language=en-GB |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67742032 |access-date=19 December 2023 |archive-date=24 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224210647/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67742032 |url-status=live }} The election resulted in protests, with opposition supporters claiming that the election result was fraudulent.{{cite web | last=Delauney | first=Guy | title=Serbia protests: Anti-government demonstrators try to storm Belgrade city hall | website=bbc.com | date=24 December 2023 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67817072 | access-date=26 December 2023 | archive-date=24 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224215958/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67817072 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | last=Hajdari | first=Una | title=Vučić tightens grip in Serbian election marred by fraud claims | website=POLITICO | date=17 December 2023 | url=https://www.politico.eu/article/serbia-vucic-serbian-progressive-party-brnabic-eu-politics/ | access-date=26 December 2023 | archive-date=26 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226191741/https://www.politico.eu/article/serbia-vucic-serbian-progressive-party-brnabic-eu-politics/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | author=DUSAN STOJANOVIC| agency=Associated Press | title=Police in Serbia fire tear gas at election protesters | website=ABC News | date=24 December 2023 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-serbia-fire-tear-gas-election-protesters-threatening-105902378 | access-date=26 December 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224194923/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/police-serbia-fire-tear-gas-election-protesters-threatening-105902378 |archive-date=24 December 2023}}{{cite web | title=Opposition, Students Call for More Mass Protests to Annul Belgrade Election | website=Balkan Insight | date=25 December 2023 | url=https://balkaninsight.com/2023/12/25/opposition-students-call-for-more-mass-protests-to-annul-belgrade-election/ | access-date=26 December 2023 | archive-date=1 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101043233/https://balkaninsight.com/2023/12/25/opposition-students-call-for-more-mass-protests-to-annul-belgrade-election/ | url-status=live }} On 16 January 2022, a Serbian constitutional referendum took place in which citizens chose to amend the Constitution concerning the judiciary. The changes were presented as a step towards reducing political influence in the judicial system.{{Cite news |last=Stojanovic |first=Milica |date=2022 |title=Serbia Votes 'Yes' to Judiciary Constitution Changes |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2022/01/16/serbia-votes-yes-to-judiciary-constitution-changes/ |work=BalkanInsight |access-date=31 July 2024 |archive-date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124105506/https://balkaninsight.com/2022/01/16/serbia-votes-yes-to-judiciary-constitution-changes/ |url-status=live }}

The country was chosen to host international specialised exposition Expo 2027.{{Cite web |title=Expo 2027 Belgrade |url=https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/2027-belgrade |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=www.bie-paris.org |archive-date=13 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213214728/https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/2027-belgrade |url-status=live }} The Serbian government is working with Rio Tinto corporation on a project which aims to develop Europe's biggest lithium mine.{{Cite news |title=Rio Tinto hails another step closer to develop Serbian lithium mine |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/rio-tinto-welcomes-serbias-reinstatement-jadar-lithium-project-licence-2024-07-16/ |work=Reuters}} Mining lithium became a matter of debate in the society and several protests against mining took place.{{Cite web |date=19 July 2024 |title=Kopanje litijuma u Srbiji: "Prilika koja se ne propušta", saglasni Vučić i Šolc |url=https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-69202176 |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=BBC News na srpskom |language=sr-latn |archive-date=26 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726225430/https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-69202176 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Evropa |first=Radio Slobodna |date=25 July 2024 |title=Protesti u Loznici i Novom Sadu zbog Rio Tinta |url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/srbija-loznica-novi-sad-protest-rio-tinto/33050360.html |access-date=27 July 2024 |work=Radio Slobodna Evropa |language=sh |archive-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727101013/https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/srbija-loznica-novi-sad-protest-rio-tinto/33050360.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=FoNet |first=Beta |title=U Valjevu održan protest protiv Rio Tinta i iskopavanja litijuma |url=https://www.nin.rs/politika/vesti/53545/u-valjevu-odrzan-protest-protiv-rio-tinta-i-iskopavanja-litijuma |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=Nin online |language=sr |archive-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727165402/https://www.nin.rs/politika/vesti/53545/u-valjevu-odrzan-protest-protiv-rio-tinta-i-iskopavanja-litijuma |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Geography of Serbia}}

File:Serbien topo.png

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| image1 = Pejzaz ribnickog jezera.jpg

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| caption1 = View of Ribnica Lake, Zlatibor mountain; there are 165 mountains in the country{{Cite web |last=Kalaba |first=Ana |date=2023-02-15 |title=Spisak svih planina u Srbiji - ima ih 165 i za neke niste ni čuli |url=https://nova.rs/magazin/putovanja/spisak-svih-planina-u-srbiji-ima-ih-165-i-za-neke-niste-ni-culi/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=NOVA portal |language=sr-RS}}

| caption2 = Bačka region; northern part of the country is defined by its mostly flat and fertile terrain

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A landlocked country situated at the crossroads between Central{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2013/04/08/serbia-on-the-way-to-eu-accession|title=Serbia: On the Way to EU Accession|publisher=World Bank Group|access-date=21 October 2014|archive-date=20 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520191507/http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2013/04/08/serbia-on-the-way-to-eu-accession|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/serbia|title=Serbia: Introduction|publisher=Michigan State University|access-date=3 October 2014|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073716/https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/serbia|url-status=live}} and Southeastern Europe, Serbia is located in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of {{convert|88499|km2|abbr=on}};{{efn|name=data2|Including the disputed territory of Kosovo.}} with Kosovo excluded, the total area is {{convert|77474|km2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/serbia/ |title = The World Factbook: Serbia |publisher = Central Intelligence Agency |date = 20 June 2014 |access-date = 18 December 2014 |archive-date = 4 February 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210204144154/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/serbia/ |url-status = live }} Its total border length amounts to {{convert|2027|km|abbr=on}}: Albania {{convert|115|km|abbr=on}}, Bosnia and Herzegovina {{convert|302|km|abbr=on}}, Bulgaria {{convert|318|km|abbr=on}}, Croatia {{convert|241|km|abbr=on}}, Hungary {{convert|151|km|abbr=on}}, North Macedonia {{convert|221|km|abbr=on}}, Montenegro {{convert|203|km|abbr=on}} and Romania {{convert|476|km|abbr=on}}. All of Kosovo's border with Albania ({{convert|115|km|abbr=on}}), North Macedonia ({{convert|159|km|abbr=on}}) and Montenegro ({{convert|79|km|abbr=on}}){{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kosovo/ |title=The World Factbook: Kosovo |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |date=19 June 2014 |access-date=8 January 2015 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204144331/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kosovo/ |url-status=live }} are under control of the Kosovo border police.{{cite web |url=http://www.kosovopolice.com/?page=2,22 |title=Border Police Department |publisher=Kosovo Police |access-date=8 January 2015 |archive-date=8 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108150416/http://www.kosovopolice.com/?page=2,22 |url-status=dead }} Serbia treats the {{convert|352|km|abbr=on|adj=on}} border with Kosovo as an "administrative line"; it is under shared control of Kosovo border police and Serbian police forces.{{cite web |url=http://demo.paragraf.rs/combined/Old/t/t2011_12/t12_0319.htm |title=Uredba o kontroli prelaska administrativne linije prema Autonomnoj pokrajini Kosovo i Metohija |publisher=Official gazette of the Republic of Serbia |issue=98/2011 |language=sr |access-date=8 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108112819/http://demo.paragraf.rs/combined/Old/t/t2011_12/t12_0319.htm |archive-date=8 January 2015 }}

The Pannonian Plain covers the northern third of the country (Vojvodina and Mačva{{Cite journal |last1=Carević |first1=Ivana |last2=Jovanović |first2=Velimir |year=2009 |title=Стратиграфско-тектонске карактеристике Мачванског басена |trans-title=Stratigraphic-structural characteristics of Mačva basin |url=http://www.glasniksgd.rs/index.php/home/article/view/370/317 |journal=Bulletin of the Serbian Geographical Society |language=sr, en |publisher=Serbian Geographical Society |publication-place=Belgrade |volume=4 |issue=89 |issn=0350-3593 |access-date=8 December 2023 |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208221038/http://www.glasniksgd.rs/index.php/home/article/view/370/317 |url-status=live }}) while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain.

The terrain of the central part of the country consists chiefly of hills traversed by rivers. Mountains dominate the southern third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina and Ibar. The Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia.{{cite web |url=http://www.carpathians.pl/carpathians01.html |title=About the Carpathians – Carpathian Heritage Society |publisher=Carpathian Heritage Society |access-date=28 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406010559/http://www.carpathians.pl/carpathians01.html |archive-date=6 April 2010 }}

Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system. Elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at {{convert|2,169|m|ft|abbr=off}} (the highest peak in Serbia, excluding Kosovo) to the lowest point of just {{convert|17|m|ft|abbr=off}} near the Danube river at Prahovo.{{cite web|url=http://www.turistickimagazin.com/index.php/sr/srbija-sr/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325112229/http://www.turistickimagazin.com/index.php/sr/srbija-sr/2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 March 2012 |title=O Srbiji |publisher=Turistickimagazin.com }} The largest lake is Đerdap Lake ({{convert|163|km2|}}) and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube ({{convert|587.35|km}}).

{{Main|Climate of Serbia}}

The climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. With mean January temperatures around {{convert|0|C|F}}, and mean July temperatures of {{convert|22|C|F}}, it can be classified as a warm-humid continental or humid subtropical climate.The Times Atlas of the World (1993). Times Books {{ISBN|0-7230-0492-7}}. In the north, the climate is more continental, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers along with well-distributed rainfall patterns. In the south, summers and autumns are drier, and winters are relatively cold, with heavy inland snowfall in the mountains.

Differences in elevation, proximity to the Adriatic Sea and large river basins, as well as exposure to the winds account for climate variations.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-92892/Serbia |title=Serbia :: Climate |year=2007 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |pages=5 of 71 |access-date=24 November 2006 |archive-date=15 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615165737/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-92892/Serbia |url-status=live }} Southern Serbia is subject to Mediterranean influences.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/serbia/ |title=CIA – The World Factbook |publisher=Cia.gov |access-date=24 May 2012 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204144154/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/serbia/ |url-status=live }} The Dinaric Alps and other mountain ranges contribute to the cooling of most of the warm air masses. Winters are quite harsh in the Pešter plateau, because of the mountains which encircle it.Radovanović, M and Dučić, V, 2002, [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002EGSGA..27.2283R Variability of Climate in Serbia in the Second Half of the 20th century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703204712/http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002EGSGA..27.2283R |date=3 July 2019 }}, EGS XXVII General Assembly, Nice, 21 to 26 April 2002, abstract #2283, 27:2283–, provided by the Smithsonian / NASA Astrophysics Data System One of the climatic features of Serbia is Košava, a cold and very squally southeastern wind which starts in the Carpathian Mountains and follows the Danube northwest through the Iron Gate where it gains a jet effect and continues to Belgrade and can spread as far south as Niš.{{cite web|title=Kossava|website=Glossary of Meteorology, Second Edition|publisher=American Meteorological Society|date=June 2000|url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=kossava1|access-date=11 March 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930211835/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=kossava1|archive-date=30 September 2007}}

The average annual air temperature for the period 1961–1990 for the area with an elevation of up to {{convert|300|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} is {{convert|10.9|°C}}. The areas with an elevation of {{convert|300|to|500|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} have an average annual temperature of around {{convert|10.0|°C}}, and over {{convert|1000|m|0|abbr=on}} of elevation around {{convert|6.0|°C}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.hidmet.gov.rs/eng/meteorologija/klimatologija_srbije.php|title=Basic Climate Characteristics for the Territory of Serbia|publisher=Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia|access-date=18 March 2009|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010154413/http://www.hidmet.gov.rs/eng/meteorologija/klimatologija_srbije.php|url-status=live}} The lowest recorded temperature in Serbia was {{convert|-39.5|°C}} on 13 January 1985, Karajukića Bunari in Pešter, and the highest was {{convert|44.9|C|F}}, on 24 July 2007, recorded in Smederevska Palanka.{{cite web|url=http://www.hidmet.gov.rs/podaci/meteorologija/Temperaturni_rezim_u_Srbiji_eng.pdf|title=Past temperature extremes since the beginning of the measurement |access-date=5 November 2010 |publisher=Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511041636/http://www.hidmet.gov.rs/podaci/meteorologija/Temperaturni_rezim_u_Srbiji_eng.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2011}}

Serbia is one of few European countries with very high risk of natural hazards (earthquakes, storms, floods, droughts).{{cite web |url=http://www.worldriskreport.com/uploads/media/WorldRiskReport_2013_online_01.pdf |title=World Risk Report 2013 – Exposure to natural hazards |year=2013 |publisher=Alliance Development Works |pages=3–4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816173655/http://www.worldriskreport.com/uploads/media/WorldRiskReport_2013_online_01.pdf |archive-date=16 August 2014 }} It is estimated that potential floods, particularly in areas of Central Serbia, threaten over 500 larger settlements and an area of 16,000 square kilometres.{{cite web |url=http://www.climateadaptation.eu/serbia/river-floods/ |title=River floods Serbia |publisher=European Centre for Climate Adaptation |access-date=18 December 2014 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014218/https://www.climatechangepost.com/countries/serbia/river-floods/ |url-status=live }} The most disastrous were the floods in May 2014, when 57 people died and a damage of over 1.5 billion euros was inflicted.{{cite news |url=https://news.yahoo.com/serbia-gets-300-million-world-bank-aid-floods-194552074.html |title=Serbia gets $300 million from World Bank to aid floods recovery |agency=Reuters |date=4 October 2014 |access-date=18 December 2014 |archive-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105143133/http://news.yahoo.com/serbia-gets-300-million-world-bank-aid-floods-194552074.html |url-status=live }}

{{Main list|List of rivers of Serbia|List of lakes of Serbia}}

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| caption1 = The Uvac Special Nature Reserve is one of the last remaining habitats of the griffon vulture in Europe{{cite web|url= http://www.uvac.org.rs/specijalni-rezervat-prirode-uvac|author= Darko Ćirović |title= Kraljevstvo beloglavog supa|date=2017|language=sr}}

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| caption2 = Picea omorika is a species of coniferous tree endemic to Tara National Park in western Serbia

}}

Almost all of Serbia's rivers drain to the Black Sea, by way of the Danube river. The Danube, the second largest European river, passes through Serbia with 588 kilometres{{cite web |url = http://www.serbia.travel/destinations/cities-and-municipalities.a-283.692.html |title = The Danube {{!}} National Tourism Organisation of Serbia |website = www.serbia.travel |access-date = 27 April 2019 |archive-date = 10 May 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073749/https://www.serbia.travel/destinations/cities-and-municipalities.a-283.692.html |url-status = live }} (21% of its overall length) and represents the major source of fresh water.{{cite web |url=http://danube-cooperation.com/danubius/2016/08/19/ten-economic-benefits-danube-serbia/ |title=Ten economic benefits of the Danube for Serbia |last=Jolović |first=Dejan |date=19 August 2016 |website=Danubius |language=en |access-date=27 April 2019 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073750/http://danube-cooperation.com/danubius/2016/08/19/ten-economic-benefits-danube-serbia/ |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Takić |last2=Mladenović-Ranisavljević |last3=Nikolić |last4=Nikolić |last5=Vuković |last6=Živković |first1=Ljiljana M. |first2=Ivana I. |first3=Vesna D. |first4=Ljubiša B. |first5=Milovan V. |first6=Nenad V. |year=2012 |title=The assessment of the Danube water quality in Serbia |url=http://www.tf.ni.ac.rs/casopis-arhiva/sveska1/c8.pdf |journal=Advanced Technologies |page=59 |access-date=27 April 2019 |archive-date=1 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501191504/http://www.tf.ni.ac.rs/casopis-arhiva/sveska1/c8.pdf |url-status=dead }} It is joined by its biggest tributaries, the Great Morava (longest river entirely in Serbia with {{convert|493|km|abbr=on}} of length{{cite web |url=http://www.panacomp.net/morava-river/ |title=Morava River - |date=9 October 2015 |access-date=27 April 2019 |archive-date=29 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429233802/https://www.panacomp.net/morava-river/ |url-status=live }}), Sava and Tisza rivers.{{cite web |url = http://www.dunavskastrategija.rs/en/?p=185 |title = Navigation and Transportation: Waterways |publisher = Danube Strategy in Serbia |access-date = 18 December 2014 |archive-date = 21 June 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150621012934/http://www.dunavskastrategija.rs/en/?p=185 |url-status = live }} One notable exception is the Pčinja which flows into the Aegean. Drina river forms the natural border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, and represents the main kayaking and rafting attraction in both countries.

Due to configuration of the terrain, natural lakes are sparse and small; most of them are located in the lowlands of Vojvodina, like the aeolian lake Palić or numerous oxbow lakes along river flows (like Zasavica and Carska Bara). However, there are numerous artificial lakes, mostly due to hydroelectric dams, the biggest being Đerdap (Iron Gates) on the Danube with {{convert|163|km2|abbr=on}} on the Serbian side{{cite web |url = https://www.serbia-visit.com/en/things-to-do/nature-and-outdoors |title = Serbia Visit – Nature & Outdoors – Stema Guide |website=www.serbia-visit.com |access-date=28 April 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190428011415/https://www.serbia-visit.com/en/things-to-do/nature-and-outdoors |archive-date=28 April 2019 |url-status=dead }} (a total area of {{convert|253|km2|abbr=on}} is shared with Romania); Perućac on the Drina, and Vlasina. The largest waterfall, Jelovarnik, located in Kopaonik, is 71 m high.{{cite web |url = http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/G2012/pdf/G20122007.pdf |title = Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Serbia |year = 2012 |publisher = Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia |access-date = 30 October 2013 |archive-date = 1 November 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131101201001/http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/G2012/pdf/G20122007.pdf |url-status = live }} Abundance of relatively unpolluted surface waters and numerous underground natural and mineral water sources of high water quality presents a chance for export and economy improvement; however, more extensive exploitation and production of bottled water began only recently.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

{{See also|List of protected natural resources in Serbia|Environmental issues in Serbia}}

Serbia is a country of rich ecosystem and species diversity—covering only 1.9% of the whole European territory, Serbia is home to 39% of European vascular flora, 51% of European fish fauna, 40% of European reptiles and amphibian fauna, 74% of European bird fauna, and 67% European mammal fauna.{{cite web |url=http://iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/europe/?10618/Serbian-biodiversity |title=Serbian biodiversity |publisher=IUCN |date=7 August 2012 |access-date=22 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426190817/http://iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/europe/?10618%2FSerbian-biodiversity |archive-date=26 April 2016 |url-status=dead }} Its abundance of mountains and rivers make it an ideal environment for a variety of animals, many of which are protected including wolves, lynx, bears, foxes, and stags. There are 17 snake species living all over the country; 8 of them are venomous.{{cite web |url=http://www.nhmbeo.rs/upload/images/Glasnik/Bulletin%202014-04.pdf |title=Reptiles in Serbia |publisher=Glasnik |date=9 June 2017 |access-date=6 September 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010154415/http://www.nhmbeo.rs/upload/images/Glasnik/Bulletin%202014-04.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Mountain of Tara in western Serbia is one of the last regions in Europe where bears can still live in absolute freedom.{{cite web |url=http://www.discoverserbia.org/en/animals-wildlife/brown-bear |title=Serbian Brown Bear |publisher=Discoverserbia.org |access-date=22 October 2013 |archive-date=2 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002235502/http://www.discoverserbia.org/en/animals-wildlife/brown-bear |url-status=live }}{{Better source needed|date=September 2021|reason=Reference is a tourism-promotional website, which is not reliable.}} Serbia is home to about 380 species of birds. In Carska Bara, there are over 300 bird species on just a few square

kilometres.{{cite web |url=http://www.carskabara.rs/index.php/odlike/fauna/fauna-ptica |title=CARSKA BARA – Fauna ptica |publisher=Carskabara.rs |access-date=22 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023071547/http://www.carskabara.rs/index.php/odlike/fauna/fauna-ptica |archive-date=23 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} Uvac Gorge is considered one of the last habitats of the Griffon vulture in Europe.{{cite web |url=http://www.uvac.org.rs/eng/index_eng.html |title=Uvac Special Nature Reserve |publisher=Uvac.org.rs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022010436/http://www.uvac.org.rs/eng/index_eng.html |archive-date=22 October 2013 }} In area around the city of Kikinda, in the northernmost part of the country, some 145 endangered long-eared owls are noted, making it the world's biggest settlement of these species.{{cite web |url=http://www.serbia.com/kikinda-the-largest-winter-stationary-of-long-eared-owls-on-the-planet/ |title=The largest stationary of longeared owls |publisher=serbia.com |date=9 June 2017 |access-date=6 September 2017 |archive-date=9 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609043137/http://www.serbia.com/kikinda-the-largest-winter-stationary-of-long-eared-owls-on-the-planet/ |url-status=live }} The country is considerably rich with threatened species of bats and butterflies as well.{{cite web |url=http://www.earthsendangered.com/search-regions3.asp |title=Earths's Endangered Species |publisher=earthsendangered |date=9 June 2017 |access-date=6 September 2017 |archive-date=10 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610084348/http://earthsendangered.com/search-regions3.asp |url-status=live }}

File:Stara planina14.jpg at the Stara Planina]]

There are 380 protected areas of Serbia, encompassing 4,947 square kilometres or 6.4% of the country. Those protected areas include 5 national parks (Đerdap, Tara, Kopaonik, Fruška Gora and Šar Mountain), 15 nature parks, 15 "landscapes of outstanding features", 61 nature reserves, and 281 natural monuments.

With 29.1% of its territory covered by forest, Serbia is considered to be a middle-forested country, compared on a global scale to world forest coverage at 30%, and European average of 35%. The total forest area in Serbia is 2,252,000 ha (1,194,000 ha or 53% are state-owned, and 1,058,387 ha or 47% are privately owned) or 0.3 ha per inhabitant.{{cite web |url=http://www.srbijasume.rs/sumskifonde.html |title=::SE "Srbijašume" Belgrade |publisher=Srbijasume.rs |date=31 December 2010 |access-date=21 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022002640/http://www.srbijasume.rs/sumskifonde.html |archive-date=22 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.29/10, ranking it 105th globally out of 172 countries.{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|display-authors=1|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi-access=free}} The most common trees are oak, beech, pines, and firs.

Air pollution is a significant problem in Bor area, due to work of large copper mining and smelting complex, and Pančevo where oil and petrochemical industry is based.{{cite web |url=http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/countries/rs/soertopic_view?topic=air%20pollution |title=Serbia – European Environment Agency (EEA) |publisher=Eea.europa.eu |access-date=22 October 2013 |archive-date=23 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023063626/http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/countries/rs/soertopic_view?topic=air%20pollution |url-status=live }} Some cities suffer from water supply problems, due to mismanagement and low investments in the past, as well as water pollution (like the pollution of the Ibar River from the Trepča zinc-lead combinate,{{Cite journal |last1=Elezović |last2=Stefanov Ketin |last3=Dašić |last4=Dervišević |first1=Nataša |first2=Sonja |first3=Predrag |first4=Irma |date=April 2018 |title=Analysis of SWQI index of the River Ibar (Serbia) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324288846 |journal=Fresenius Environmental Bulletin }} affecting the city of Kraljevo, or the presence of natural arsenic in underground waters in Zrenjanin).{{cite web |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2018/03/20/toxic-taps-arsenic-in-water-stirs-cancer-fears-03-02-2018/ |title=Toxic Taps: Arsenic in Water Stirs Cancer Fears |date=20 March 2018|website=Balkan Insight |access-date=28 April 2019}}

Poor waste management has been identified as one of the most important environmental problems in Serbia and the recycling is a fledgling activity, with only 15% of its waste being turned back for reuse.{{cite news|url=http://www.blic.rs/society.php?id=2863|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231033001/http://www.blic.rs/society.php?id=2863|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 December 2010|title=Serbia recycling 15% of waste|newspaper=Blic|access-date=28 April 2010}} The 1999 NATO bombing caused serious damage to the environment, with several thousand tonnes of toxic chemicals stored in targeted factories and refineries released into the soil and water basins.{{cite web|url=http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewHTML.asp?FileID=9143&lang=EN|title=Environmental impact of the war in Yugoslavia on south-east Europe|website=assembly.coe.int|access-date=20 September 2019|archive-date=31 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014210/https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewHTML.asp?FileID=9143&lang=EN|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Politics of Serbia}}

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President
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Serbia is a parliamentary republic, with the government divided into legislative, executive, and judiciary branches. The current constitution was adopted in 2006 in the aftermath of the Montenegro independence referendum.{{cite web |url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=7378 |title=Serbia: Constitution of The Republic of Serbia |work=Wipo.int |access-date=19 October 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010153548/http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=7378 |url-status=live }} The Constitutional Court rules on matters regarding the Constitution.

The President of the Republic is the head of state, is elected by popular vote to a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of two terms. In addition to being the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the prime minister with the consent of the parliament, and has some influence on foreign policy.{{cite web|url=http://www.predsednik.rs/en/node/21|title=Responsibilities|publisher=predsednik.rs|access-date=20 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605140910/http://www.predsednik.rs/en/node/21|archive-date=5 June 2013}} Aleksandar Vučić of the Serbian Progressive Party is the current president following the 2017 presidential election.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39474145|title=Serbia elects Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic as president|access-date=16 January 2018|work=BBC News|date=3 April 2017|archive-date=10 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610111604/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39474145|url-status=live}} Seat of the presidency is Novi Dvor.{{Cite web |title=Da li znate priču o ovoj lepotici Beograda? |url=https://mondo.rs/Info/Drustvo/a916580/Predsednistvo-Srbije-Novi-dvor-istorija-zgrade-na-Andricevom-vencu.html |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=mondo.rs |language=sr |archive-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727222514/https://mondo.rs/Info/Drustvo/a916580/Predsednistvo-Srbije-Novi-dvor-istorija-zgrade-na-Andricevom-vencu.html |url-status=live }}

The Government is composed of the prime minister and cabinet ministers. The Government is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies. The current prime minister is Miloš Vučević, nominated by the Serbian Progressive Party.{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/info/izbori2012/vesti.php?yyyy=2012&mm=07&dd=27&nav_id=629999 |title=Izbori 2012 – Nova vlada položila zakletvu |publisher=B92 |access-date=18 October 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010155521/http://www.b92.net/info/izbori2012/vesti.php?yyyy=2012&mm=07&dd=27&nav_id=629999 |url-status=live }}

The National Assembly is a unicameral legislative body. The National Assembly has the power to enact laws, approve the budget, schedule presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister and other ministers, declare war, and ratify international treaties and agreements.{{cite web |url=http://www.parlament.gov.rs/national-assembly/role-and-mode-of-operation/jurisdiction.501.html |title=National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia {{pipe}} Jurisdiction, competences and duties of the National Assembly |publisher=Parlament.gov.rs |date=11 June 2008 |access-date=18 October 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010155531/http://www.parlament.gov.rs/national-assembly/role-and-mode-of-operation/jurisdiction.501.html |url-status=live }} It is composed of 250 proportionally elected members who serve four-year terms. Following the 2020 parliamentary election, the largest political parties in the National Assembly are the populist Serbian Progressive Party and Socialist Party of Serbia, that with its partners, hold more than a supermajority number of seats.{{cite web|title=Izveštaj o ukupnim rezultatima izbora 2020. godine|url=https://www.rik.parlament.gov.rs/extfile/sr/9419/Izvestaj%20o%20ukupnim%20rezultatima%20izbora%2020201.doc|publisher=RIK|language=Serbian|access-date=19 January 2021|archive-date=5 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705211158/https://www.rik.parlament.gov.rs/extfile/sr/9419/Izvestaj%20o%20ukupnim%20rezultatima%20izbora%2020201.doc|url-status=live}}

In 2021, Serbia was the 5th country in Europe by the number of women holding high-ranking public functions.{{cite web|title=Србија пета у Европи по броју жена на јавним функцијама|url=http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/470992/Srbija-peta-u-Evropi-po-broju-zena-na-javnim-funkcijama|access-date=18 January 2021|website=Politika Online|archive-date=10 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510074014/https://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/470992/Srbija-peta-u-Evropi-po-broju-zena-na-javnim-funkcijama|url-status=live}}{{Better source needed|date=July 2023}}

File:Дом Народне Скупштине Србије.jpg]]

{{Main|Law of Serbia|Crime in Serbia}}

Serbia has a three-tiered judicial system, made up of the Supreme Court of Cassation as the court of the last resort, Courts of Appeal as the appellate instance, and Basic and High courts as the general jurisdictions at first instance.{{cite web|url=https://www.vk.sud.rs/en/history-judiciary-serbia|title=History of judiciary in Serbia|website=mreznisistemi.rs|author=Mrežni Sistemi|date=5 June 2014|publisher=Supreme Court of Cassation|language=en|access-date=27 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427235739/https://www.vk.sud.rs/en/history-judiciary-serbia|archive-date=27 April 2019|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ninkovic.rs/news/legal.system.htm|title=Ninkovic Law Office :: News and Publications :: Legal system of Serbia|website=www.ninkovic.rs|access-date=27 April 2019|archive-date=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107102717/http://www.ninkovic.rs/news/legal.system.htm|url-status=dead}}

Courts of special jurisdictions are the Administrative Court, commercial courts (including the Commercial Court of Appeal at second instance) and misdemeanor courts (including High Misdemeanor Court at second instance).{{cite web |url=http://paragraf.rs/propisi/zakon_o_uredjenju_sudova.html |title=Zakon o uređenju sudova |publisher=Paragraf.rs |access-date=18 October 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010154419/http://paragraf.rs/propisi/zakon_o_uredjenju_sudova.html |url-status=live }} The judiciary is overseen by the Ministry of Justice. Serbia has a typical civil law legal system.

Law enforcement is the responsibility of the Serbian Police, which is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. Serbian Police fields 27,363 uniformed officers.{{cite web |title=Policing in Serbia |url=https://pointpulse.net/magazine/policing-in-serbia/ |website=POINTPULSE |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-date=27 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127132022/https://pointpulse.net/magazine/policing-in-serbia/ |url-status=dead }}

National security and counterintelligence are the responsibility of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA).{{cite web |url=http://www.bia.gov.rs/eng/o-agenciji/delokrug-rada.html |title=About Agency / Security Information Agency |publisher=Bia.gov.rs |date=27 July 2002 |access-date=19 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020030215/http://www.bia.gov.rs/eng/o-agenciji/delokrug-rada.html |archive-date=20 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |date=19 July 2021 |title=Špijuniranje, praćenje i još ponešto: Šta tačno rade srpske službe bezbednosti |url=https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-57865543 |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=BBC News na srpskom |language=sr-Latn}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Serbia}}

{{See also|Accession of Serbia to the European Union|Political status of Kosovo}}

File:CountriesRecognizingKosovo.svg

Serbia has established diplomatic relations with 191 UN member states, the Holy See, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the European Union.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.rs/diplomatic_list_1012.pdf |title=Serbia Diplomatic List 2012 |access-date=27 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023014630/http://www.mfa.gov.rs/diplomatic_list_1012.pdf |archive-date=23 October 2013 }} Foreign relations are conducted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Serbia has a network of 74 embassies and 25 consulates internationally.{{cite web |url=https://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/diplomatic-missions/serbian-diplomatic-missions/embassies |title=Embassies |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia |access-date=3 April 2024 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013823/https://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/diplomatic-missions/serbian-diplomatic-missions/embassies |url-status=live }} There are 69 foreign embassies, 5 consulates and 4 liaison offices in Serbia.{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.rs/Embassies/missions_e.html |title=Diplomatic Missions in Serbia |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia |access-date=15 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220121901/http://www.mfa.gov.rs/Embassies/missions_e.html |archive-date=20 February 2012 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.rs/sr/index.php/diplomatsko-konzularna-predstavnistva/diplomatske-misije/ambasade?lang=lat |title=Ambasade Republike Srbije |access-date=2 February 2020 |archive-date=1 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101125443/http://www.mfa.gov.rs/sr/index.php/diplomatsko-konzularna-predstavnistva/diplomatske-misije/ambasade?lang=lat |url-status=dead }}

Serbian foreign policy is focused on achieving the strategic goal of becoming a member state of the European Union (EU). Serbia officially applied for membership in the European Union on 22 December 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.se2009.eu/en/meetings_news/2009/12/22/serbia_apples_for_eu_membership|title=Serbia applies for EU membership|publisher=Swedish Presidency of the European Union|access-date=25 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127101640/http://www.se2009.eu/en/meetings_news/2009/12/22/serbia_applies_for_eu_membership|archive-date=27 January 2010|url-status=dead}} It received a full candidate status on 1 March 2012 and started accession talks on 21 January 2014.{{cite news|url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/137634.pdf|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171010155436/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/137634.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 October 2017|work=Council of the European Union|title=EUROPEAN COUNCIL 27/28 JUNE 2013 CONCLUSIONS|date=27 June 2013|access-date=28 June 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/EU-grants-Serbia-candidate-status/articleshow/12108156.cms |title=EU grants Serbia candidate status |newspaper=Times of India |date=2 March 2012 |access-date=24 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417141835/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/EU-grants-Serbia-candidate-status/articleshow/12108156.cms |archive-date=17 April 2012 }} {{As of|2018}}, the European Commission considered accession possible by 2025.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/e0774a28-0695-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5|title=EU to map out membership for 6 western Balkan states|date=1 February 2018|accessdate=19 November 2024|first1=Michael|last1=Peel|first2=Neil|last2=Buckley|newspaper=Financial Times|language=en|url-access=subscription}}

On 17 February 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. In protest, Serbia initially recalled its ambassadors from countries that recognised Kosovo's independence.{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.ekonomskitim.sr.gov.yu/et.php?str=novost_detalji&jez=eng&nov=1852 |date=* |title=Protest conveyed to France, Britain, Costa Rica, Australia, Albania}} The resolution of 26 December 2007 by the National Assembly stated that both the Kosovo declaration of independence and recognition thereof by any state would be gross violation of international law.[http://www.srbija.gov.rs/kosovo-metohija/index.php?id=80729 Резолуција Народне скупштине о заштити суверенитета, територијалног интегритета и уставног поретка Републике Србије] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072535/http://www.srbija.gov.rs/kosovo-metohija/index.php?id=80729 |date=3 January 2018 }} // See Article 4.

Serbia began cooperation and dialogue with NATO in 2006, when the country joined the Partnership for Peace programme and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. The country's military neutrality was formally proclaimed by a resolution adopted by Serbia's parliament in December 2007, which makes joining any military alliance contingent on a popular referendum,[http://www.srbija.gov.rs/kosovo-metohija/index.php?id=80729 Резолуција Народне скупштине о заштити суверенитета, територијалног интегритета и уставног поретка Републике Србије] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014213/https://www.srbija.gov.rs/kosovo-metohija/index.php?id=80729 |date=31 August 2024 }} // See Article 6.[http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/119284/Kako-je-utvrdena-vojna-neutralnost Како је утврђена војна неутралност] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072443/http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/119284/Kako-je-utvrdena-vojna-neutralnost |date=3 January 2018 }} politika.rs, 12 January 2010. a stance acknowledged by NATO.[https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2017&mm=10&dd=13&nav_id=102547 NATO "accepts Serbia's determination to be neutral"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014720/https://www.b92.net/o/eng/news/politics?yyyy=2017&mm=10&dd=13&nav_id=102547 |date=31 August 2024 }} b92.net, 13 October 2017.[https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/840211 В зависимости от независимости: Сербия готова разорвать отношения с Западом из-за Косово] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072647/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/840211 |date=3 January 2018 }} Kommersant, 27 December 2007. On the other hand, Serbia's relations with Russia are habitually described by mass media as a "centuries-old religious, ethnic and political alliance"{{Cite news |date=3 July 2016 |title=With Russia as an ally, Serbia edges toward NATO |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-serbia-nato/with-russia-as-an-ally-serbia-edges-toward-nato-idUSKCN0ZJ06S |work=Reuters |access-date=2 January 2018 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308152531/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-serbia-nato/with-russia-as-an-ally-serbia-edges-toward-nato-idUSKCN0ZJ06S |url-status=live }} and Russia is said to have sought to solidify its relations with Serbia since the imposition of sanctions against Russia in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-ramani/why-russia-is-tightening-_b_9218306.html|title=Why Serbia is Strengthening its Alliance with Russia|first=Samuel|last=Ramani|website=HuffPost|date=15 February 2016|access-date=2 January 2018|archive-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912180429/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-ramani/why-russia-is-tightening-_b_9218306.html|url-status=live}}

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Serbia drew international scrutiny for not joining EU sanctions against Russia and maintaining bilateral relations, citing its own past suffering with sanctions.{{cite web |title=Serbia's Staged Balancing Act |url=https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2023/08/07/serbias-staged-balancing-act/ |website=gjia.georgetown.edu |date=7 August 2023 |access-date=12 September 2023 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013815/https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2023/08/07/serbias-staged-balancing-act/ |url-status=live }} It is one of the only countries in Europe not to sanction Russia.{{cite web | title=Serbian president rejects calls for sanctions against Russia | website=AP NEWS | date=4 January 2023 | url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-politics-europe-serbia-european-union-6deaa57230993b02e7a67f57693bf7f2 | access-date=6 June 2023 | archive-date=4 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404211943/https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-politics-europe-serbia-european-union-6deaa57230993b02e7a67f57693bf7f2 | url-status=live }} However, Serbia voted to condemn the invasion, supporting the adoption of the United Nations draft resolution demanding Russia to withdraw its military forces from Ukraine, as well as supporting the suspension of Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.{{cite web | last=Mojsilović | first=Julijana | title=Serbia votes 'yes' to UN's resolution condemning Russian attack, West welcomes | website=N1 | date=2 March 2022 | url=https://n1info.rs/english/news/serbia-votes-yes-to-uns-resolution-condemning-russian-attack-west-welocomes/ | language=sr | access-date=14 February 2023 | archive-date=31 August 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014720/https://n1info.rs/english/news/serbia-votes-yes-to-uns-resolution-condemning-russian-attack-west-welocomes/ | url-status=live }}

{{Main|Serbian Armed Forces|Military history of Serbia}}

{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; border:1px #ddd solid;"

|+ Branches of the Serbian Armed Forces

|- style="text-align:center;"

| style="width:120px;"|File:Sloboda 2019 - smotra 02 - 17.jpg
Special forces brigade
4th Army Brigade

| style="width:120px;"|File:H-145M YU-ICE Dan MUPa 2020 05.jpg
Serbian Air Force and Air Defence
Eurocopter EC145

|}

The Serbian Armed Forces are subordinate to the Ministry of Defence, and are composed of the Army and the Air Force. Although a landlocked country, Serbia operates a River Flotilla which patrols on the Danube, Sava and Tisa rivers. The Serbian Chief of the General Staff reports to the Defence Minister. The Chief of Staff is appointed by the president, who is the commander-in-chief. {{As of|2019}}, Serbian defence budget amounts to $804 million.{{cite news|url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/vojska-srbija-naoruzanje-novac/29637678.html|title=Više novca za naoružanje|website=Radio Slobodna Evropa|date=13 December 2018|language=sh|access-date=18 January 2019|last1=Martinović|first1=Iva|archive-date=19 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121909/https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/vojska-srbija-naoruzanje-novac/29637678.html|url-status=live}}

Traditionally having relied on a large number of conscripts, Serbian Armed Forces went through a period of downsizing, restructuring and professionalisation. Conscription was abolished in 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Drustvo/Vojska-Srbije-od-sutra-i-zvanicno-profesionalna.lt.html|title=Vojska Srbije od sutra i zvanično profesionalna|publisher=Politika|date=31 December 2010|access-date=24 May 2012|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040853/http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Drustvo/Vojska-Srbije-od-sutra-i-zvanicno-profesionalna.lt.html|url-status=live}} Serbian Armed Forces have 28,000 active troops,{{cite web |url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/221160/Sa-28000-vojnika-Vojska-Srbije-medju-najbrojnijim-u-regionu |title=Blic Online {{pipe}} Sa 28.000 vojnika Vojska Srbije među najbrojnijim u regionu |date=12 February 2010 |publisher=Blic.rs |access-date=19 October 2013 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040853/http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/221160/Sa-28000-vojnika-Vojska-Srbije-medju-najbrojnijim-u-regionu |url-status=live }} supplemented by the "active reserve" which numbers 20,000 members and "passive reserve" with about 170,000.{{cite web |url=http://www.mod.gov.rs/multimedia/file/staticki_sadrzaj/vojna_obaveza/33-52.pdf |title=Активна и пасивна резерва |language=Serbian |publisher=mod.gov.rs |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014720/http://www.mod.gov.rs/multimedia/file/staticki_sadrzaj/vojna_obaveza/33-52.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=01&dd=04&nav_category=12&nav_id=483708|title=Obveznici postali "pasivna rezerva"|language=sr|publisher=B92|date=4 January 2011|access-date=21 June 2013|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630091836/http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=01&dd=04&nav_category=12&nav_id=483708|url-status=live}}

The country participates in the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan programme,{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/cps/cs/natohq/topics_50100.htm|title=Relations with Serbia|access-date=12 February 2015|archive-date=16 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116202346/http://www.nato.int/cps/cs/natohq/topics_50100.htm|url-status=live}} but has no intention of joining NATO, due to significant popular rejection, largely a legacy of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.{{cite web |publisher=Amnesty International |url=https://www.amnesty.org/es/news-and-updates/news/No-justicia-v%C3%ADctimas-bombardeos-OTAN-20090423 |title=No hay justicia para las víctimas de los bombardeos de la OTAN |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724133753/http://www.amnesty.org/es/news-and-updates/news/No-justicia-v%C3%ADctimas-bombardeos-OTAN-20090423 |archive-date=24 July 2009 |access-date= 10 November 2009}} It is an observer member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) as of 2013.{{Cite web |editor-last=Tatyana |editor-first=Kudrenok |location=Astana |publisher=inform.kz |date=12 April 2013 |title=Afghan and Serbian parliaments acquire observer status at CSTO PA |url=https://www.inform.kz/en/afghan-and-serbian-parliaments-acquire-observer-status-at-csto-pa_a2549816 |access-date=9 May 2023 |website=Каzinform |language=en |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124220910/https://www.inform.kz/en/afghan-and-serbian-parliaments-acquire-observer-status-at-csto-pa_a2549816 |url-status=live }} The country also signed the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. The Serbian Armed Forces take part in several multinational peacekeeping missions, including deployments in Lebanon, Cyprus, Ivory Coast, and Liberia.{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.gov.rs/sadrzaj.php?id_sadrzaja=4366|title=Current multinational operations|publisher=www.mod.gov.rs|access-date=26 April 2013|archive-date=30 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160830063726/http://www.mod.gov.rs/sadrzaj.php?id_sadrzaja=4366|url-status=dead}}

Serbia is a major producer and exporter of military equipment in the region. Defence exports totaled around $600 million in 2018.{{cite web|url=http://rs.n1info.com/Biznis/a447234/Vulin-Izvoz-odbrambene-industrije-600-miliona-dolara-u-2018.html|title=Vulin: Izvoz odbrambene industrije 600 miliona dolara u 2018.|website=N1 Srbija|date=26 December 2018|language=sr-Latn|access-date=1 August 2019|archive-date=1 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801005707/http://rs.n1info.com/Biznis/a447234/Vulin-Izvoz-odbrambene-industrije-600-miliona-dolara-u-2018.html|url-status=dead}} The defence industry has seen significant growth over the years and it continues to grow on a yearly basis.{{cite web|url=http://www.glas-javnosti.rs/clanak/ekonomija/glas-javnosti-11-01-2011/srpska-vojna-industrija-u-usponu|title=Srpska vojna industrija u usponu|publisher=Glas-javnosti|access-date=24 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629132300/http://www.glas-javnosti.rs/clanak/ekonomija/glas-javnosti-11-01-2011/srpska-vojna-industrija-u-usponu|archive-date=29 June 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/228348/Povratak-vojne-industrije-Srbije-na-svetsku-scenu|title=Povratak vojne industrije Srbije na svetsku scenu|newspaper=Blic|access-date=24 May 2012|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016040853/http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/228348/Povratak-vojne-industrije-Srbije-na-svetsku-scenu|url-status=live}}

In 2024 the Serbian president approved the reintroduction of mandatory military service, which was abolished in 2011. If the Government adopts this decision, military service will last 75 days, starting with 2025.{{Cite web |date=14 September 2024 |title=Serbia to reinstate compulsory military service after 12 years |url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/serbia-to-reinstate-compulsory-military-service-after-12-years-13815311.html |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=Firstpost |language=en-us}}

{{Main|Administrative divisions of Serbia}}

Serbia is a unitary state{{cite web|url=http://www.ccre.org/en/membres/Serbie.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604031513/http://www.ccre.org/en/membres/Serbie.htm|title=CCRE: Serbia|archive-date=4 June 2012|url-status=dead}} composed of municipalities/cities, districts, and two autonomous provinces. In Serbia, excluding Kosovo, there are 145 municipalities (opštine) and 29 cities (gradovi), which form the basic units of local self-government.{{cite web|url=http://www.parlament.gov.rs/upload/archive/files/cir/pdf/zakoni/2007/4308-07-cir.zip|title=Law on Territorial Organization|language=sr|publisher=National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia|date=29 December 2007|access-date=6 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012035526/http://www.parlament.gov.rs/upload/archive/files/cir/pdf/zakoni/2007/4308-07-cir.zip|archive-date=12 October 2013|url-status=dead}} Apart from municipalities/cities, there are 24 districts (okruzi, 10 most populated listed below), with the City of Belgrade constituting an additional district. Except for Belgrade, which has an elected local government, districts are regional centres of state authority, but have no powers of their own; they present purely administrative divisions.

The Constitution of Serbia recognises two autonomous provinces, Vojvodina in the north, and the disputed territory of Kosovo and Metohija in the south, while the remaining area of Central Serbia has never had its own regional authority. Following the Kosovo War, UN peacekeepers entered Kosovo and Metohija, as per UNSC Resolution 1244. The government of Serbia does not recognise Kosovo's February 2008 declaration of independence, considering it illegal and illegitimate.[http://www.srbija.gov.rs/kosovo-metohija/index.php?id=43159 Decision on the annulment of the illegitimate acts of the provisional institutions of self-government in Kosovo and Metohija on their declaration of unilateral independence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510073907/http://www.srbija.gov.rs/kosovo-metohija/index.php?id=43159 |date=10 May 2022 }} Government of Serbia, 2008

{| role="presentation" style="margin:auto;" cellpadding="10"

|-

| File:Statistical regions of Serbia NUTS 2.svg

|style="font-size:90%;font-weight:bold;"|

{{col-begin|width=auto}}

{{col-break|gap=2em}}

{{ordered list|start=1|Bor|Braničevo|Belgrade|Zaječar|West Bačka|Zlatibor|Jablanica|South Banat|South Bačka|Kolubara}}

{{col-break|gap=2em}}

{{ordered list|start=11|Kosovo|Kosovska Mitrovica|Kosovo-Pomoravlje|Mačva|Moravica|Nišava|Peć|Pirot|Podunavlje|Pomoravlje}}

{{col-break|gap=2em}}

{{ordered list|start=21|Prizren|Pčinja|Rasina|Raška|North Banat|North Bačka|Central Banat|Srem|Toplica|Šumadija}}

{{col-end}}

|}

{{Main|Demographics of Serbia|Serbians}}

File:Ethnic structure of Serbia by municipalities and cities 2022.png

As of the 2022 census, Serbia (excluding Kosovo) has a total population of 6,647,003 and the overall population density is medium as it stands at 85.8 inhabitants per square kilometre. The census was not conducted in Kosovo which held its own census that numbered their total population at 1,586,659. Serbia has been enduring a demographic crisis since the beginning of the 1990s, with a death rate that has continuously exceeded its birth rate.{{cite web|url=http://www.euractiv.rs/srbija-i-eu/4205-sebinost-ena-nije-uzrok-bele-kuge|title=Sebičnost žena u Srbiji nije uzrok bele kuge {{pipe}} EurActiv Srbija|publisher=Euractiv.rs|date=26 July 2013|access-date=20 October 2013|archive-date=3 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703221603/https://www.euractiv.rs/srbija-i-eu/4205-sebinost-ena-nije-uzrok-bele-kuge|url-status=live}}{{citation|url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=FRA|title=Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last centuries|first=Max|last=Roser|date=2014|work=Our World In Data, Gapminder Foundation|access-date=8 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708151649/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=FRA|archive-date=8 July 2019|url-status=dead}} It is estimated that 500,000 people left Serbia during the 1990s, 20% of whom had a higher education.{{cite web|url=http://www.emg.rs/en/news/serbia/61642.html|title=Serbia seeks to fill the '90s brain-drainage gap|publisher=EMG.rs|date=5 September 2008|access-date=20 November 2010|archive-date=29 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529021627/http://www.emg.rs/en/news/serbia/61642.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pregled-rs.com/article.php?pid=208&id=19625&lang=en|title=Survey S&M 1/2003|publisher=Yugoslav Survey|access-date=19 February 2010|archive-date=11 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130111073313/http://www.pregled-rs.com/article.php?pid=208&id=19625&lang=en|url-status=live}} Serbia has one of the oldest populations in the world, with the average age of 43.3 years,{{Cite web |url=https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/486294/prosecna-starost-stanovnika-srbije-sve-veca.php |title=The average age of the population of Serbia is increasing |access-date=26 June 2022 |website=www.srbija.gov.rs |publisher=The Government of the Republic of Serbia |author-link= |year=2020 |language=sr |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816105704/https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/486294/prosecna-starost-stanovnika-srbije-sve-veca.php |url-status=live }} and its population is shrinking at one of the fastest rates in the world.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2002rank.html?countryName=Serbia&countryCode=ri#ri|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514203849/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2002rank.html?countryName=Serbia&countryCode=ri#ri|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 May 2011|title=Country Comparison : Population growth rate|website=The World Factbook, CIA|year=2002}} A fifth of all households consist of only one person, and just one-fourth of four and more persons.{{cite web|url=http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Knjiga10.pdf|title=Household numbers|website=pod2.stat.gov.rs|access-date=20 October 2013|archive-date=21 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021031244/https://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Knjiga10.pdf|url-status=live}} The average life expectancy in Serbia is 76.1 years.{{cite book |title=Europe Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2020 : Fighting COVID-19 |url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/33476 |date=9 April 2020 |publisher=World Bank |access-date=9 April 2020 |pages=71, 72 |isbn=9781464815645 |archive-date=14 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214102039/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/33476 |url-status=live }}

During the 1990s, Serbia had the largest refugee population in Europe.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=10&dd=22&nav_id=44785|title=Serbia's refugee population largest in Europe|author=Tanjug|author-link=Tanjug|date=22 October 2007|publisher=B92|access-date=23 October 2007|archive-date=12 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112013805/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=10&dd=22&nav_id=44785|url-status=dead}} Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Serbia formed between 7% and 7.5% of its population at the time – about half a million refugees sought refuge in the country following the series of Yugoslav wars, mainly from Croatia (and to a lesser extent from Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the IDPs from Kosovo.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2013&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=86697|title=Serbia currently hosts over 260K refugees and IDPs|publisher=B92|date=20 June 2013|access-date=21 June 2013|archive-date=25 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725210938/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2013&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=86697|url-status=live}}

Serbs with 5,360,239 are the largest ethnic group in Serbia, representing 81% of the total population (excluding Kosovo). Serbia is one of the European countries with the highest number of registered national minorities, while the province of Vojvodina is recognisable for its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural identity.{{cite web |url = https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/en/135125/slovakias-national-minority-makes-serbia-nicer-richer.php |title = Slovakia's national minority makes Serbia nicer, richer |date = 11 December 2018 |website = srbija.gov.rs |access-date = 12 August 2019 |archive-date = 29 April 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220429232848/https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/en/135125/slovakias-national-minority-makes-serbia-nicer-richer.php |url-status = live }}{{cite book |first1 = Gábor |last1 = Lux |first2 = Gyula |last2 = Horváth |title = The Routledge Handbook to Regional Development in Central and Eastern Europe |publisher = Taylor & Francis |year = 2017 |page = 190 }}{{cite book |first = Béla |last = Filep |title = The Politics of Good Neighbourhood: State, civil society and the enhancement of cultural capital in East Central Europe |publisher = Taylor & Francis |year = 2016 |page = 71 }} Despite a decline in recent years, with a population of 184,442, Hungarians remain the largest ethnic minority in Serbia, concentrated predominantly in northern Vojvodina and representing 2.8% of the country's population (10.5% in Vojvodina). Romani population stands at 131,936 according to the 2022 census but unofficial estimates place their actual number between 400,000 and 500,000.{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2009&mm=04&dd=07&nav_category=12&nav_id=354362 |title=Vesti – Zvaničan broj Roma u Srbiji |publisher=B92 |date=7 April 2009 |access-date=5 October 2013 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101174527/http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2009&mm=04&dd=07&nav_category=12&nav_id=354362 |url-status=live }} Bosniaks with 153,801 and Muslims by nationality with 13,011 are concentrated in Raška (Sandžak), in the southwest. Other minority groups include Albanians, Croats and Bunjevci, Slovaks, Yugoslavs, Montenegrins, Romanians and Vlachs, Macedonians and Bulgarians. Chinese, estimated at 15,000, are the only significant non-European immigrant minority.[https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=83182&page=1 Chinese Migrants Use Serbia as Gate to Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010154421/http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=83182&page=1 |date=10 October 2017 }}, ABC News, 13 July 2010.{{cite web|author=V. Mijatović – B. Hadžić|url=http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.293.html:446510-I-Kinezi-napustaju-Srbiju|title=I Kinezi napuštaju Srbiju|publisher=Novosti.rs|access-date=20 October 2013|archive-date=1 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101174527/http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.293.html:446510-I-Kinezi-napustaju-Srbiju|url-status=live}} Most recently, tens of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have immigrated to Serbia following the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Srbiju naselilo Rusa koliko Kragujevac ima stanovnika Od početka rata u Ukrajini ljudi traže spas kod nas: Broj izbeglica raste svakog dana |url=https://www.blic.rs/vesti/drustvo/srbiju-naselilo-rusa-koliko-kragujevac-ima-stanovnika-od-pocetka-rata-u-ukrajini/7hsmzhg |date=8 December 2022 |access-date=11 December 2022 |website=www.blic.rs |language=Serbian |archive-date=11 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211154139/https://www.blic.rs/vesti/drustvo/srbiju-naselilo-rusa-koliko-kragujevac-ima-stanovnika-od-pocetka-rata-u-ukrajini/7hsmzhg |url-status=live }}

As of January 2024, more than 300,000 Russians had emigrated to Serbia since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. About one in 10 have been issued a residence permit, though integration issues have been reported, with Russian immigrants living in a "parallel society".{{cite web|first=Sanja|last=Kljajic|title=Russian immigrants to Serbia live in a parallel society |url=https://www.dw.com/en/russian-immigrants-to-serbia-live-in-a-parallel-society/video-68116165 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=en |access-date=5 May 2024 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831014721/https://www.dw.com/en/russian-immigrants-to-serbia-live-in-a-parallel-society/video-68116165 |url-status=dead }}

According to World Happiness Report 2024, Serbia is on 37th rank amount 140 countries.{{Cite web |date=20 March 2024 |title=World Happiness Report 2024: Most comprehensive picture yet of happiness across generations |url=https://worldhappiness.report/news/world-happiness-report-2024-most-comprehensive-picture-yet-of-happiness-across-generations/#:~:text=Afghanistan%20remains%20bottom%20of%20the,widely%20from%20the%20overall%20rankings. |access-date=16 August 2024 |website=worldhappiness.report |language=en |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320021023/https://worldhappiness.report/news/world-happiness-report-2024-most-comprehensive-picture-yet-of-happiness-across-generations/#:~:text=Afghanistan%20remains%20bottom%20of%20the,widely%20from%20the%20overall%20rankings. |url-status=live }}

The majority of the population, or 62%, reside in urban areas and some 18% in Belgrade alone. Belgrade is the only city with more than a million inhabitants and there are four more with over 100,000 inhabitants.{{Serbian census 2022 Book 2}}

{{Largest cities

| country = Serbia

| stat_ref = Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia - 2022 Census

| list_by_pop =

| div_name = District

| div_link =

|city_1 = Belgrade

|div_1 = Belgrade{{!}}City of Belgrade

|pop_1 = 1,197,714

|img_1 = Belgrade Waterfront (Београд на води).jpg

|city_2 = Novi Sad

|div_2 = South Bačka

|pop_2 = 260,438

|img_2 = Petrovaradinska tvrđava, 12.jpg

|city_3 = Niš

|div_3 = Nišava District

|pop_3 = 178,976

|img_3 = Nis center.JPG

|city_4 = Kragujevac

|div_4 = Šumadija District

|pop_4 = 146,315

|img_4 = View on the city.JPG

|city_5 = Subotica

|div_5 = North Bačka

|pop_5 = 88,752

|city_6 = Pančevo

|div_6 = South Banat

|pop_6 = 73,401

|city_7 = Novi Pazar

|div_7 = Raška District

|pop_7 = 71,462

|city_8 = Čačak

|div_8 = Moravica District

|pop_8 = 69,598

|city_9 = Zrenjanin

|div_9 = Central Banat

|pop_9 = 67,129

|city_10 = Smederevo

|div_10 = Podunavlje District

|pop_10 = 59,261

|city_11 = Kraljevo

|div_11 = Raška District

|pop_11 = 57,432

|city_12 = Valjevo

|div_12 = Kolubara District

|pop_12 = 56,059

|city_13 = Leskovac

|div_13 = Jablanica District

|pop_13 = 54,091

|city_14 = Kruševac

|div_14 = Rasina District

|pop_14 = 53,746

|city_15 = Borča

|div_15 = City of Belgrade

|pop_15 = 51,862

|city_16 = Šabac

|div_16 = Mačva District

|pop_16 = 51,163

|city_17 = Vranje

|div_17 = Pčinja District

|pop_17 = 50,954

|city_18 = Užice

|div_18 = Zlatibor District

|pop_18 = 48,539

|city_19 = Požarevac

|div_19 = Braničevo District

|pop_19 = 42,530

|city_20 = Sombor

|div_20 = West Bačka

|pop_20 = 41,814

}}

{{Main|Religion in Serbia|Serbian Orthodox Church}}

File:Hram svetog save beograd 0005.jpg in Belgrade is one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world{{cite book|author1=J. Gordon Melton|first2=Martin|last2=Baumann|title=Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA511|year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|pages=511–12|access-date=10 October 2016}}]]

The Constitution of Serbia defines it as a secular state with guaranteed religious freedom. Orthodox Christians with 6,079,396 comprise 84.5% of country's population. The Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest and traditional church of the country, adherents of which are overwhelmingly Serbs. Other Orthodox Christian communities in Serbia include Montenegrins, Romanians, Vlachs, Macedonians and Bulgarians.

In 2011, Roman Catholics numbered 356,957 in Serbia, or roughly 6% of the population, mostly in northern Vojvodina which is home to ethnic minority groups such as Hungarians, Croats, and Bunjevci, as well as to some Slovaks and Czechs.{{cite web |url=http://popis2011.stat.rs/?page_id=1221 |title=Становништво, домаћинства и породице – база : Попис у Србији 2011 |publisher=Popis2011.stat.rs |access-date=5 October 2013 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213146/http://popis2011.stat.rs/?page_id=1221 |url-status=dead }} Greek Catholic Church is adhered by around 25,000 citizens (0.37% of the population), mostly Rusyns in Vojvodina.{{cite web|url=http://www.zumberacki-vikarijat.com/grkokatolici-u-vojvodini-istocni-dio-nekadasnje-grkokatolicke-slavonske-eparhije/|title=GRKOKATOLICI U VOJVODINI|publisher=Žumberacki Vikarijat|date=August 2014|access-date=18 August 2014|archive-date=29 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429233833/https://www.zumberacki-vikarijat.com/grkokatolici-u-vojvodini-istocni-dio-nekadasnje-grkokatolicke-slavonske-eparhije/|url-status=live}}

Protestantism accounts for 0.8% of the country's population,{{Cite news |last=Evropa |first=Radio Slobodna |date=16 June 2023 |title=Objavljeni rezultati popisa o maternjem jeziku i veroispovesti u Srbiji |url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/popis-srbija-veroispovest-maternji-jezik/32462211.html |access-date=16 September 2024 |work=Radio Slobodna Evropa |language=sh}} chiefly Lutheranism among Slovaks in Vojvodina as well as Calvinism among Reformed Hungarians.

Muslims, with 222,282 or 3% of the population, form the third largest religious group. Islam has a strong historic following in the southern regions of Serbia, primarily in southern Raška. Bosniaks are the largest Islamic community in Serbia, followed by Albanians; estimates are that around a third of the country's Roma people are Muslim.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

In 2011, there were only 578 Jews in Serbia, compared to over 30,000 prior to World War II. Atheists numbered 80,053, or 1.1% of the population, and an additional 4,070 declared themselves to be agnostics.{{cite web |url=http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Knjiga4_Veroispovest.pdf |title=Municipality data |website=pod2.stat.gov.rs |publisher=PBC |access-date=20 October 2013 |archive-date=15 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715000726/http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Knjiga4_Veroispovest.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Languages of Serbia|Serbian language}}

File:Serbian alphabets.png uses both the Cyrillic and the Latin script. Serbian is a rare example of synchronic digraphia, a situation where all literate members of a society have two interchangeable writing systems available to them]]

The official language is Serbian, native to 88% of the population. Serbian is the only European language with active digraphia, using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Serbian Cyrillic is designated in the Constitution as the "official script".{{cite book|first=Ronelle|last=Alexander|title=Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar: With Sociolinguistic Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HTdZ5rxJ-cC|date=15 August 2006|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-21193-6|pages=1–2|access-date=13 February 2016|archive-date=12 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112112742/https://books.google.com/books?id=6HTdZ5rxJ-cC|url-status=live}} A survey from 2014 showed that 47% of Serbians favour the Latin alphabet, 36% favour the Cyrillic one and 17% have no preference.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=1087&yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=16&nav_id=936784|title=Ivan Klajn: Ćirilica će postati arhaično pismo|date=16 December 2014|access-date=13 January 2016|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011114445/http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=1087&yyyy=2014&mm=12&dd=16&nav_id=936784|url-status=live}}

Standard Serbian is mutually intelligible with recognised minority languages of Bosnian and Croatian, as all three are based on the most widespread Shtokavian dialect from Eastern Herzegovina.{{citation |first1=Ljiljana |last1=Subotić |first2=Dejan |last2=Sredojević |first3=Isidora |last3=Bjelaković |title=Fonetika i fonologija: Ortoepska i ortografska norma standardnog srpskog jezika |language=sh |year=2012 |publisher=FILOZOFSKI FAKULTET NOVI SAD |url=http://digitalnabiblioteka.tk/digitalna-biblioteka?task=view&id=56&catid=903 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103173557/http://digitalnabiblioteka.tk/digitalna-biblioteka?task=view&id=56&catid=903 |archive-date=3 January 2014 }} Other recognised minority languages are: Hungarian, Slovak, Albanian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Rusyn, and Macedonian. All these languages are in official use in municipalities or cities where the ethnic minority exceeds 15% of the total population.{{cite web |url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/Report/EvaluationReports/SerbiaECRML2_en.pdf |title=Application of the Charter in Serbia |publisher=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages |date=11 June 2013 |pages=4–5, 9 |access-date=20 October 2013 |archive-date=28 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228124113/http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/Report/EvaluationReports/SerbiaECRML2_en.pdf |url-status=live }} In Vojvodina, the provincial administration co-officially uses, besides Serbian, five other languages (Slovak, Hungarian, Croatian, Romanian and Rusyn).{{Cite web |year=2020 |title=Službena upotreba jezika i pisama u AP Vojvodini |url=https://www.puma.vojvodina.gov.rs/etext.php?ID_mat=26 |access-date=27 July 2024 |archive-date=28 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240728171337/https://www.puma.vojvodina.gov.rs/etext.php?ID_mat=26 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Healthcare in Serbia}}

The healthcare system in Serbia is organised and managed by the three primary institutions: The Ministry of Health, The Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanović Batut" and the Military Medical Academy. Healthcare protections are defined as a constitutional right in Serbia.{{Cite journal |last1= Ivanović|first1=Aleksandar|doi= 10.4467/25444654SPP.19.004.10147|title=The right to social security in the constitution of the republic of Serbia |journal=Studia z Zakresu Prawa Pracy i Polityki Społecznej|volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=47–65|year=2019 |doi-access=free}} The Serbian public health system is based on the principles of equity and solidarity, organised on the model of compulsory health insurance contributions.{{Cite journal |last1= Stosić|first1=Sanja |last2= Karanović |first2= Nevena |doi= 10.2298/vsp120205002s |title=Health care economics in Serbia: current problems and changes |journal=Vojnosanit Pregl |volume=71 |issue=11 |pages=1055–61|year=2014 |pmid=25536810 |doi-access=free }} Private health care is not integrated into the public health system, but certain services may be included by contracting.

File:KCS 1.jpg, opened in 2022, has 3,150 beds, considered to be the highest number in Europe, and among the highest in the world]]

The Ministry of Health determines the healthcare policy and adopts standards for the work of the healthcare service. The Ministry is also in charge of the health care system, health insurance, preservation and improvement of health of citizens, health inspection, supervision over the work of the healthcare service and other tasks in the field of health care.

The Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanović Batut" is responsible for medical statistics, epidemiology and hygiene. This central, tertiary institution manages and coordinates a dense network of municipal and regional Centres of Public Health that provide epidemiological and hygiene services at primary and secondary levels.{{cite web|url=http://www.batut.org.rs/index.php?category_id=122|title=IZJZS – Batut ::|website=www.batut.org.rs|access-date=25 January 2021|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228132748/http://www.batut.org.rs/index.php?category_id=122|url-status=live}} The National Health Insurance Fund finances the functioning of health care at all levels, and also provides and implements the compulsory health insurance.{{Cite journal|last=Bjegović Mikanović|first=Vesna|date=2016|title=Governance and management of health care institutions in Serbia: An overview of recent developments|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307677775|journal=SEEJPH|volume=|pages=|via=|access-date=27 January 2021|archive-date=31 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013823/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307677775_Governance_and_management_of_health_care_institutions_in_Serbia_An_overview_of_recent_developments|url-status=live}}

One of the most important health institutions in Serbia is the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade.{{Cite book |title=Правопис српскога језика |last1=Пешикан |first1=Митар |last2=Јерковић |first2=Јован |last3=Пижурица |first3=Мато |publisher=Матица српска |year=2010 |isbn=978-86-7946-079-0 |location=Нови Сад |chapter=Речник| pages=282– }} It takes care of about 30,000 patients a year (military and civilian insured). The academy performs around 30,000 surgical interventions and more than 500,000 specialist examinations.{{cite web |url=http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0042-8450/2009/0042-84500903183R.pdf |title=Vojnomedicinska akademija: 165 godina tradicije i napretka |access-date=20 September 2017 |archive-date=31 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240831013814/http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0042-8450/2009/0042-84500903183R.pdf |url-status=live }}

The Clinical Centre of Serbia spreads over 34 hectares in Belgrade and consists of about 50 buildings, while also has 3,150 beds considered to be the highest number in Europe,{{cite news|last1=Mišković|first1=Ivan|title=Za godinu dana više od 50.000 operacija|url=https://www.blic.rs/vesti/beograd/za-godinu-dana-vise-od-50000-operacija/687nddy|access-date=28 January 2021|work=blic.rs|date=4 February 2009|language=sr|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726163120/https://www.blic.rs/vesti/beograd/za-godinu-dana-vise-od-50000-operacija/687nddy|url-status=live}} and among highest in the world.{{cite web|title=The Largest Hospitals In The World|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-hospitals-in-the-world.html|website=worldatlas.com|date=5 October 2017|access-date=28 January 2021|archive-date=10 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710191100/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-hospitals-in-the-world.html|url-status=live}}{{Better source needed|date=September 2023}}

Other important health institutions include: KBC Dr Dragiša Mišović, Cardiovascular institute Dedinje,{{cite web|url=https://rs.n1info.com/zdravlje/a558769-Institut-Dedinje-prvi-u-Evropi-po-broju-operacija-na-otvorenom-srcu-u-2019/|title=Institut "Dedinje" prvi u Evropi po broju operacija na otvorenom srcu u 2019.|date=8 January 2020|website=N1|language=sr-RS|access-date=25 January 2021|archive-date=30 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130001837/https://rs.n1info.com/zdravlje/a558769-institut-dedinje-prvi-u-evropi-po-broju-operacija-na-otvorenom-srcu-u-2019/|url-status=live}} Clinical Centre of Kragujevac, Clinical Centre of Niš, Clinical Centre of Vojvodina and others.

File:NIS-ova zgrada - panoramio (1).jpg multinational oil and gas company headquarters in Novi Sad]]

{{Main|Economy of Serbia}}

Serbia has an emerging market economy in upper-middle income range.{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=RS-XT|title=Data for Serbia, Upper middle income|publisher=The World Bank|access-date=8 May 2024|archive-date=3 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303012501/https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=RS-XT|url-status=live}} According to the International Monetary Fund, Serbian nominal GDP in 2024 is officially estimated at $81.873 billion or $12,385 per capita while purchasing power parity GDP stood at $185.014 billion or $27,985 per capita.{{cite web | url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/weo-report?c=942,&s=NGDP_R,NGDP_RPCH,NGDP,NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDP_D,NGDPRPC,NGDPRPPPPC,NGDPPC,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,PPPSH,PPPEX,NID_NGDP,NGSD_NGDP,PCPI,PCPIPCH,PCPIE,PCPIEPCH,TM_RPCH,TMG_RPCH,TX_RPCH,TXG_RPCH,LUR,LP,GGR,GGR_NGDP,GGX,GGX_NGDP,GGXCNL,GGXCNL_NGDP,GGSB,GGSB_NPGDP,GGXONLB,GGXONLB_NGDP,GGXWDN,GGXWDN_NGDP,GGXWDG,GGXWDG_NGDP,NGDP_FY,BCA,BCA_NGDPD,&sy=2022&ey=2029&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 | title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects | access-date=27 April 2024 | archive-date=27 April 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427221034/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/weo-report?c=942,&s=NGDP_R,NGDP_RPCH,NGDP,NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDP_D,NGDPRPC,NGDPRPPPPC,NGDPPC,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,PPPSH,PPPEX,NID_NGDP,NGSD_NGDP,PCPI,PCPIPCH,PCPIE,PCPIEPCH,TM_RPCH,TMG_RPCH,TX_RPCH,TXG_RPCH,LUR,LP,GGR,GGR_NGDP,GGX,GGX_NGDP,GGXCNL,GGXCNL_NGDP,GGSB,GGSB_NPGDP,GGXONLB,GGXONLB_NGDP,GGXWDN,GGXWDN_NGDP,GGXWDG,GGXWDG_NGDP,NGDP_FY,BCA,BCA_NGDPD,&sy=2022&ey=2029&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 | url-status=live }} The economy is dominated by services which accounts for 67.9% of GDP, followed by industry with 26.1% of GDP, and agriculture at 6% of GDP.{{cite web |url=http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2018/PdfE/G20181271.pdf |title=Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 2005–2017 – Revised Data Series |publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia |date=10 January 2018 |access-date=1 November 2021 |archive-date=13 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313111834/http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2018/PdfE/G20181271.pdf |url-status=live }} Serbia's arms industry, a legacy of Cold War Yugoslavia, is the leading weapons manufacturer in the Western Balkans and ranked 25th worldwide in arms exports, surpassing $1.6 billion in 2023 and employing 20,000 people.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-25 |title=Serbian weapons found in Sudan, violating UN arms embargo |url=https://www.intellinews.com/serbian-weapons-found-in-sudan-violating-un-arms-embargo-335509/ |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=www.intellinews.com |language=en}} The official currency is Serbian dinar, and the central bank is National Bank of Serbia. The Belgrade Stock Exchange is the only stock exchange in the country, with market capitalisation of $8.65 billion and BELEX15 as the main index representing the 15 most liquid stocks.{{cite web|title=Belgrade Stock Exchange jsc, Belgrade|url=http://www.belex.rs/eng/o_berzi/o_berzi_pregled|website=belex.rs|access-date=5 August 2014|archive-date=17 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317145748/https://www.belex.rs/eng/o_berzi/o_berzi_pregled|url-status=live}} The country is ranked 52nd on the Social Progress Index{{cite web|url=https://www.socialprogress.org/index/global/results|title=Global Index: Results|access-date=5 January 2021|archive-date=3 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503073115/https://www.socialprogress.org/index/global/results/|url-status=live}} as well as 54th on the Global Peace Index.{{Cite web |title=GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2024 |url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf |access-date=15 August 2024 |archive-date=19 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240819091540/https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf |url-status=live }}

The economy has been affected by the global economic crisis. After almost a decade of strong economic growth (average of 4.45% per year), Serbia entered the recession in 2009 with negative growth of −3% and again in 2012 and 2014 with −1% and −1.8%, respectively.{{cite web|title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: Serbia GDP growth rate|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2000&ey=2015&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=49&pr1.y=7&c=942&s=NGDP_RPCH&grp=0&a=|website=imf.org|access-date=5 August 2014|archive-date=23 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623111332/https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2000&ey=2015&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=49&pr1.y=7&c=942&s=NGDP_RPCH&grp=0&a=|url-status=live}} As the government was fighting effects of crisis the public debt has more than doubled: from pre-crisis level of just under 30% to about 70% of GDP and trending downwards recently to around 50%.{{cite web|url=http://www.021.rs/story/Info/Biznis-i-ekonomija/129346/Kako-je-Srbija-dosla-do-javnog-duga-od-248-milijardi-evra.html|title=Kako je Srbija došla do javnog duga od 24,8 milijardi evra|date=21 February 2016|access-date=7 May 2017|archive-date=29 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429233837/https://www.021.rs/story/Info/Biznis-i-ekonomija/129346/Kako-je-Srbija-dosla-do-javnog-duga-od-248-milijardi-evra.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web | url=http://www.javnidug.gov.rs/eng/default.asp?P=46&MenuItem=4 | title=Public Debt Administration – Public Debt Stock and Structure | access-date=26 July 2019 | archive-date=20 October 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020230949/http://www.javnidug.gov.rs/eng/default.asp?P=46&MenuItem=4 | url-status=dead }} Labour force stands at 3.2 million, with 56% employed in services sector, 28.1% in industry and 15.9% in the agriculture.{{cite journal |url=http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/PdfE/G20195646.pdf |title=Bulletin: Labour Force Survey in The Republic of Serbia, 2018 |journal=Bilten |publisher=Statistical Office of The Republic of Serbia |location=Belgrade |date=2019 |issn=0354-3641 |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-date=8 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808002558/http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/PdfE/G20195646.pdf |url-status=live }} The average monthly net salary in May 2019 stood at 47,575 dinars or $525.{{cite web |url=http://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/vesti/20190725-prosecne-zarade-po-zaposlenom-maj-2019 |title=Average salaries and wages per employee, May 2019 |publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316130511/https://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/vesti/20190725-prosecne-zarade-po-zaposlenom-maj-2019 |url-status=live }} The unemployment remains an acute problem, with rate of 11% {{As of|2021|lc=y}}.{{cite journal |url=https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2022/pdfE/G20225682.pdf |title=Labour Force Survey in The Republic of Serbia, 2021 |journal=Bilten |publisher=Statistical Office of The Republic of Serbia |location=Belgrade |date=2022 |issn=0354-3641 |access-date=2 January 2024 |archive-date=12 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612125517/https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2022/pdfE/G20225682.pdf |url-status=live }}

Since 2000, Serbia has attracted over $40 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI).{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/serbia/ |title=Europe :: Serbia — the World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |date=26 October 2021 |access-date=23 January 2021 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204144154/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/serbia/ |url-status=live }} Blue-chip corporations making investments include: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Siemens, Bosch, Philip Morris, Michelin, Coca-Cola, Carlsberg and others.{{cite web | url=http://belgrade.usembassy.gov/partnership/invest.html | title=US embassy: private sector investments | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527093003/http://belgrade.usembassy.gov/partnership/invest.html | archive-date=27 May 2010 | df=dmy-all }} In the energy sector, Russian energy giants, Gazprom and Lukoil have made large investments.{{cite web | url=http://www.economy.gov.ru/wps/wcm/myconnect/economylib/mert/welcome_eng/pressservice/eventschronicle/doc1229612064630 | title=Ministry of economic relations, Russian Federation | access-date=10 June 2009 | archive-date=10 March 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310103036/http://www.economy.gov.ru/wps/wcm/myconnect/economylib/mert/welcome_eng/pressservice/eventschronicle/doc1229612064630 | url-status=live }} In metallurgy sector, Chinese steel and copper giants, Hesteel and Zijin Mining have acquired key complexes.{{cite web | url=https://www.ekapija.com/en/news/2383107/mining-a-new-ace-up-the-sleeve-for-serbia | title=Mining, a new "ace up the sleeve" for Serbia? | access-date=26 July 2019 | archive-date=25 July 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725134621/https://www.ekapija.com/en/news/2383107/mining-a-new-ace-up-the-sleeve-for-serbia | url-status=live }}

Serbia has an unfavourable trade balance: imports exceed exports by 25%.{{Update inline|date=May 2024|reason=This should be referenced with date}} Serbia's exports, however, recorded a steady growth in the 2010s reaching $19.2 billion in 2018.{{cite journal |url=http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/pdfE/G20191198.pdf |title=Statistical Release: Statistics of external trade |journal=Labour Force Survey |publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia |number=198 |date=16 July 2019 |issn=0353-9555 |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-date=8 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808002732/http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/pdfE/G20191198.pdf |url-status=live }} The country has free trade agreements with the EFTA and CEFTA, a preferential trade regime with the European Union, a Generalised System of Preferences with the United States, and individual free trade agreements with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.{{cite web|title=LIBERALIZED TRADE|url=http://www.siepa.gov.rs/site/en/home/1/investing_in_serbia/liberalized_trade/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429234809/http://www.siepa.gov.rs/site/en/home/1/investing_in_serbia/liberalized_trade/|archive-date=29 April 2012|website=siepa.gov.rs|access-date=3 August 2014}}

{{Main|Agriculture in Serbia}}

File:Raspberries and blackberries from Srem, Serbia.jpg

Serbia has very favourable natural conditions (land and climate) for varied agricultural production. It has 5,056,000 ha of agricultural land (0.7 ha per capita), out of which 3,294,000 ha is arable land (0.45 ha per capita).{{cite web|url=http://www.pks.rs/PrivredaSrbije.aspx?id=13&p=2&|title=Privreda u Srbiji|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=6 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406130914/https://pks.rs/PrivredaSrbije.aspx?id=13&p=2&|url-status=live}} In 2016, Serbia exported agricultural and food products worth $3.2 billion, and the export-import ratio was 178%.{{cite web|url=http://www.ekonomski.net/rekordan-izvoz-poljoprivrednih-proizvoda-32-milijarde-dolara|title=Izvoz poljoprivrednih proizvoda – 3,2 milijarde dolara|website=Ekonomski Online|access-date=8 May 2017|archive-date=8 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208132354/http://www.ekonomski.net/rekordan-izvoz-poljoprivrednih-proizvoda-32-milijarde-dolara|url-status=live}} Agricultural exports constitute more than a fifth of all Serbia's sales on the world market. Serbia is one of the largest provider of frozen fruit to the EU (largest to the French market, and 2nd largest to the German market).{{cite web|url=http://siepa.gov.rs/en/index-en/key-industries/food.html|title=Food|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009113803/http://siepa.gov.rs/en/index-en/key-industries/food.html|archive-date=9 October 2014|url-status=dead}}

Agricultural production is most prominent in Vojvodina on the fertile Pannonian Plain. Other agricultural regions include Mačva, Pomoravlje, Tamnava, Rasina, and Jablanica.{{cite web|url=http://www.srbija.gov.rs/pages/article.php?id=93 |title=Agriculture |publisher=Government of Serbia |access-date=19 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616151327/http://www.srbija.gov.rs/pages/article.php?id=93 }}

In the structure of the agricultural production, 70% is from the crop field production and 30% is from the livestock production. Serbia is world's second largest producer of plums (582,485 tonnes; second to China), second largest of raspberries (89,602 tonnes, second to Poland), it is also a significant producer of maize (6.48 million tonnes, ranked 32nd in the world) and wheat (2.07 million tonnes, ranked 35th in the world).{{cite web|url=http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html#VISUALIZE_BY_AREA|title=Serbia Overview|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=14 June 2013|archive-date=1 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401115157/http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html#VISUALIZE_BY_AREA|url-status=dead}} Other important agricultural products are: sunflower, sugar beet, soybean, potato, apple, pork meat, beef, poultry and dairy.{{cite web | title=export.gov | website=Export Solutions | date=1 January 2014 | url=https://www.export.gov/apex/article2?id=Serbia-Agribusiness#:~:text=Approximately%2060%20percent%20of%20Serbia's,total%20cultivable%20land%20in%20Serbia. | access-date=20 June 2021 | archive-date=24 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203022/https://www.export.gov/apex/article2?id=Serbia-Agribusiness#:~:text=Approximately%2060%20percent%20of%20Serbia's,total%20cultivable%20land%20in%20Serbia. | url-status=dead }}

There are 56,000 ha of vineyards in Serbia, producing about 230 million litres of wine annually. The most famous viticulture regions are located in Vojvodina and Šumadija.{{cite web|url=https://vinsketure.rs/vinski-regioni/|title=Vinski regioni|website=vinsekture.rs|publisher=Vinske Ture|language=Serbian|access-date=14 April 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414122859/https://vinsketure.rs/vinski-regioni/|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Automotive industry in Serbia}}

File:Fiat Grande Panda.jpg is manufactured in the FCA plant in Kragujevac{{Cite web |title=Kragujevac: Počela probna proizvodnja električnog 'Fiata Grande Panda' |url=https://balkans.aljazeera.net/news/2024/7/22/pocinje-proizvodnja-elektricnog-vozila-fiat-grande-panda-u-kragujevcu |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=Al Jazeera Balkans |language=bs |archive-date=28 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240728181706/https://balkans.aljazeera.net/news/2024/7/22/pocinje-proizvodnja-elektricnog-vozila-fiat-grande-panda-u-kragujevcu |url-status=live }}]]

The industry was the economic sector hardest hit by the UN sanctions and trade embargo and NATO bombing during the 1990s and transition to market economy during the 2000s.{{cite web|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/306.html|title=NATO's Latest Target: Yugoslavia's Economy|access-date=24 October 2013|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010154430/http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/306.html|url-status=live}} The industrial output saw dramatic downsizing: in 2013 it was expected to be only a half of that of 1989.{{cite web|url=http://akter.co.rs/weekly/kolumna/180-deindustrijalizacija-srbije.html|title=Deindustrijalizacija Srbije – Kolumne|publisher=AKTER|date=28 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185236/http://akter.co.rs/weekly/kolumna/180-deindustrijalizacija-srbije.html|archive-date=29 October 2013}} Main industrial sectors include: automotive, mining, non-ferrous metals, food-processing, electronics, pharmaceuticals, clothes. Serbia has 14 free economic zones as of September 2017,{{cite news |last1=Mikavica |first1=A. |title=Slobodne zone mamac za investitore |url=http://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/388105/Slobodne-zone-mamac-za-investitore |access-date=17 March 2019 |work=politika.rs |date=3 September 2017 |language=sr |archive-date=6 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406133513/http://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/388105/Slobodne-zone-mamac-za-investitore |url-status=live }} in which many foreign direct investments are realised.

The automotive industry is dominated by cluster located in Kragujevac and its vicinity, and contributes to export with about $2 billion.{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2013&mm=10&dd=04&nav_id=761347 |title=Biz – Vesti – Auto-industrija za Srbiju kao IT |publisher=B92 |date=4 October 2013 |access-date=24 October 2013 |archive-date=17 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017194628/http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2013&mm=10&dd=04&nav_id=761347 |url-status=live }} Country is a leading steel producer in the wider region of Southeast Europe and had production of nearly 2 million tonnes of raw steel in 2018, coming entirely from Smederevo steel mill, owned by the Chinese Hesteel.{{Cite web |url=https://financialobserver.eu/cse-and-cis/incredible-rise-of-serbian-steel-industry/ |title=Incredible rise of Serbian steel industry {{!}} {{!}} Central European Financial Observer |date=19 March 2019 |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-date=25 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725134621/https://financialobserver.eu/cse-and-cis/incredible-rise-of-serbian-steel-industry/ |url-status=live }} Serbia's mining industry is comparatively strong: Serbia is the 18th largest producer of coal (7th in Europe) extracted from large deposits in Kolubara and Kostolac basins; it is also world's 23rd largest (3rd in Europe) producer of copper which is extracted by Zijin Bor Copper, a large copper mining company, acquired by Chinese Zijin Mining in 2018; significant gold extraction is developed around Majdanpek. Serbia notably manufactures intel smartphones named Tesla smartphones.{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraf.rs/english/1672966-all-about-the-tesla-telephone-heres-why-the-serbian-smartphone-is-better-than-the-competition-photo-video|title=All about the Tesla Telephone|work=telegraf.rs|date=23 July 2015|access-date=6 February 2016|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010155535/http://www.telegraf.rs/english/1672966-all-about-the-tesla-telephone-heres-why-the-serbian-smartphone-is-better-than-the-competition-photo-video|url-status=live}}

Food industry is well known both regionally and internationally and is one of the strong points of the economy.{{cite web|url=http://siepa.gov.rs/en/files/pdf2010/FOOD_SEKTOR.pdf|title=Serbian Development Agency – RAS|work=siepa.gov.rs|access-date=24 October 2013|archive-date=25 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425052824/http://siepa.gov.rs/en/files/pdf2010/FOOD_SEKTOR.pdf|url-status=dead}} Some of the international brand-names established production in Serbia: PepsiCo and Nestlé in food-processing sector; Coca-Cola (Belgrade), Heineken (Novi Sad) and Carlsberg (Bačka Palanka) in beverage industry; Nordzucker in sugar industry. Serbia's electronics industry had its peak in the 1980s and the industry today is only a third of what it was back then, but has witnessed a something of revival in last decade with investments of companies such as Siemens (wind turbines) in Subotica, Panasonic (lighting devices) in Svilajnac, and Gorenje (electrical home appliances) in Valjevo.{{cite web |url=http://siepa.gov.rs/en/index-en/key-industries/electronics.html |title=Electronics |publisher=Siepa.gov.rs |access-date=24 October 2013 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213427/http://siepa.gov.rs/en/index-en/key-industries/electronics.html |url-status=dead }} The pharmaceutical industry in Serbia comprises a dozen manufacturers of generic drugs, of which Hemofarm in Vršac and Galenika in Belgrade, account for 80% of production volume. Domestic production meets over 60% of the local demand.{{cite web|url=http://siepa.gov.rs/en/index-en/key-industries/pharmaceutical.html|title=Pharmaceutical|publisher=Siepa.gov.rs|access-date=24 October 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023701/http://siepa.gov.rs/en/index-en/key-industries/pharmaceutical.html|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Energy in Serbia}}

The energy sector is one of the largest and most important sectors to the country's economy. Serbia is a net exporter of electricity and importer of key fuels (such as oil and gas).

Serbia has an abundance of coal, and significant reserves of oil and gas. Serbia's proven reserves of 5.5 billion tonnes of coal lignite are the fifth largest in the world (second in Europe, after Germany).{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2011&mm=04&dd=19&nav_id=507192 |title=Biz – Vesti – Srbija ima uglja za još jedan vek |date=19 April 2011 |publisher=B92 |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=17 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017195753/http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2011&mm=04&dd=19&nav_id=507192 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.worldenergy.org/documents/ser_2010_report_1.pdf |title=2010 Survey of World Energy Resources |publisher=World Energy Council |access-date=20 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824071141/http://www.worldenergy.org/documents/ser_2010_report_1.pdf |archive-date=24 August 2013 }}

File:Dam Serbia Djerdap 2.jpg is the largest dam on the Danube river and one of the largest hydro power stations in Europe{{cite web|url=https://www.wrmjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=151&Itemid=182|title=Monitoring of the Iron Gate Hydropower and Navigation System on the Danube River|website=wrmjournal.com|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-date=6 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106153740/https://www.wrmjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=151&Itemid=182|url-status=dead}}]]

Coal is found in two large deposits: Kolubara (4 billion tonnes of reserves) and Kostolac (1.5 billion tonnes). Despite being small on a world scale, Serbia's oil and gas resources (77.4 million tonnes of oil equivalent and 48.1 billion cubic metres, respectively) have a certain regional importance since they are largest in the region of former Yugoslavia as well as the Balkans (excluding Romania).{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2179rank.html |url-status=dead |title=Country Comparison: Natural Gas – Proved Reserves |work=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309174844/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2179rank.html |archive-date=9 March 2013 }} Almost 90% of the discovered oil and gas are to be found in Banat and those oil and gas fields are by size among the largest in the Pannonian basin but are average on a European scale.{{cite web |url=http://www.ogj.com/1/vol-110/issue-1a/exploration-development/exploration-production-full.html |title=Exploration, production pace faster in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Oil & Gas Journal |date=9 January 2012 |publisher=Ogj.com |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010154422/http://www.ogj.com/1/vol-110/issue-1a/exploration-development/exploration-production-full.html |url-status=live }}

The production of electricity in 2015 in Serbia was 36.5 billion kilowatt-hours (KWh), while the final electricity consumption amounted to 35.5 billion kilowatt-hours (KWh).{{cite web |url=http://www.eps.rs/Eng/Article.aspx?lista=Novosti&id=69 |title=Higher production, EPS stable in 2017 |publisher=eps.rs |access-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924231958/http://www.eps.rs/Eng/Article.aspx?lista=Novosti&id=69 |archive-date=24 September 2017 }} Most of the electricity produced comes from thermal-power plants (72.7% of all electricity) and to a lesser degree from hydroelectric-power plants (27.3%).{{cite web |url=http://www.forumserbia.eu/P42A0C50S26/Energy-Sector.htm |title=Sectors >> Energy Sector .:: Italy-Serbia: Enhancing Entrepreneurial Development |language=it |publisher=Forumserbia.eu |date=6 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193017/http://www.forumserbia.eu/P42A0C50S26/Energy-Sector.htm |archive-date=29 October 2013 }} There are 6 lignite-operated thermal-power plants with an installed power of 3,936 MW.{{cite web |url=http://www.tent.rs/en/about-us |title=TENT – Responsibility and Privilege |publisher=Tent.rs |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192009/http://www.tent.rs/en/about-us |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} Total installed power of 9 hydroelectric-power plants is 2,831 MW.{{cite web |url=http://www.djerdap.rs/index.aspx?pageno=14&mId=177&mpId=69&langId=2 |title=HE Đerdap 1 – Tehničke karakteristike |publisher=Djerdap.rs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403143323/http://www.djerdap.rs/index.aspx?pageno=14&mId=177&mpId=69&langId=2 |archive-date=3 April 2012 }} In addition to this, there are mazute and gas-operated thermal-power plants with an installed power of 353 MW.{{cite web |url=http://serbia-energy.eu/energy-sector-serbia/ |title=Serbia Energy Business Magazine – Energy Sector Serbia |publisher=Serbia-energy.eu |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=28 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428162457/https://serbia-energy.eu/energy-sector-serbia/ |url-status=dead }} The entire production of electricity is concentrated in Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), public electric-utility power company.

The current oil production in Serbia amounts to over 1.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent{{cite web |url=http://www.nis.rs/o-nama/nis-ukratko/nis-u-brojkama?lang=en |title=НИС у бројкама {{pipe}} НИС |publisher=Nis.rs |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193618/http://www.nis.rs/o-nama/nis-ukratko/nis-u-brojkama?lang=en |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} and satisfies some 43% of country's needs while the rest is imported.{{cite web |url=http://uk.practicallaw.com/4-524-1945?q=*&qp=&qo=&qe= |title=Practical Law |publisher=Uk.practicallaw.com |date=1 February 2013 |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=29 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329041056/http://uk.practicallaw.com/4-524-1945?q=*&qp=&qo=&qe= |url-status=live }} National petrol company, Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), was acquired in 2008 by Gazprom Neft. The company's refinery in Pančevo (capacity of 4.8 million tonnes) is one of the most modern oil-refineries in Europe; it also operates network of 334 filling stations in Serbia (74% of domestic market) and additional 36 stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 31 in Bulgaria, and 28 in Romania.{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2013&mm=11&dd=10&nav_id=775796 |title=Biz – Vesti – Kravčenko: NIS je već sada broj 1 |date=11 October 2013 |publisher=B92 |access-date=10 November 2013 |archive-date=17 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017200835/http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2013&mm=11&dd=10&nav_id=775796 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nis.rs/o-nama/nis-ukratko/nis-danas?lang=en |title=НИС данас {{pipe}} НИС |publisher=Nis.rs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192114/http://www.nis.rs/o-nama/nis-ukratko/nis-danas?lang=en |archive-date=29 October 2013 }} There are 155 kilometres of crude oil pipelines connecting Pančevo and Novi Sad refineries as a part of trans-national Adria oil pipeline.{{cite web |url=http://www.transnafta.rs/en/home/about_us/comp_activity/ |title=Transnafta – Home – About us – Company's activity |publisher=Transnafta.rs |access-date=24 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185815/http://www.transnafta.rs/en/home/about_us/comp_activity/ |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Serbia is heavily dependent on foreign sources of natural gas, with only 17% coming from domestic production (totalling 491 million cubic metres in 2012) and the rest is imported, mainly from Russia (via gas pipelines that run through Ukraine and Hungary). Srbijagas, public company, operates the natural gas transportation system which comprise {{convert|3177|km}} of trunk and regional natural gas pipelines and a 450 million cubic metre underground gas storage facility at Banatski Dvor.{{cite web |url=http://www.srbijagas.com/o-preduzecu/delatnost/transport/transport-prirodnog-gasa.67.html |title=Transport prirodnog gasa |publisher=Srbijagas |date=31 July 2013 |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194037/http://www.srbijagas.com/o-preduzecu/delatnost/transport/transport-prirodnog-gasa.67.html |url-status=live }} In 2021, Balkan Stream gas pipeline opened through Serbia.{{cite web|date=1 January 2021|title=Balkan Stream gas pipeline opens through Serbia|url=https://rs.n1info.com/english/news/balkan-stream-gas-pipeline-opens-through-serbia/|access-date=2 January 2021|website=N1|language=sr-RS|archive-date=4 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104115018/https://rs.n1info.com/english/news/balkan-stream-gas-pipeline-opens-through-serbia/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Transport in Serbia}}

Serbia has a strategic transportation location since the country's backbone, Morava Valley, represents the easiest land route from continental Europe to Asia Minor and the Near East.{{cite web | title=Serbia | website=International Trade Administration {{pipe}} Trade.gov | date=8 March 2021 | url=http://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/serbia-infrastructure | access-date=20 June 2021 | archive-date=10 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510074340/https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/serbia-infrastructure | url-status=live }}

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| image1 = Air Serbia ATR-72-202 taking off from Belgrade Airport.jpg

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| caption1 = An Air Serbia aircraft taking off from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

| caption2 = Srbijavoz's Stadler KISS Soko train on the rail line connecting the two major cities, Belgrade and Novi Sad

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Serbian road network carries the bulk of traffic in the country. Total length of roads is {{cvt|45419|km}} of which {{cvt|962|km}} are "class-IA state roads" (i.e. motorways); {{cvt|4517|km}} are "class-IB state roads" (national roads); {{cvt|10941|km}} are "class-II state roads" (regional roads) and {{cvt|23780|km}} are "municipal roads".{{cite web |url=http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/pdf/zakon_o_putevima_lat.pdf |title=Zakon |publisher=putevi-srbije.rs |access-date=26 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419032548/http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/pdf/zakon_o_putevima_lat.pdf |archive-date=19 April 2013 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/sr/putna-mrea-republike-srbije |title=Putna mreža Republike Srbije |publisher=putevi-srbije.rs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217053433/http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/sr/putna-mrea-republike-srbije |archive-date=17 December 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/index.php/en/about-us|title=About Us|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230072002/http://www.putevi-srbije.rs/index.php/en/about-us|archive-date=30 December 2017}} The road network, except for the most of class-IA roads, are of comparatively lower quality to the Western European standards because of lack of financial resources for their maintenance in the last 20 years.

Over {{cvt|300|km}} of new motorways were constructed in the last decade and additional {{cvt|154|km}} are currently under construction: A5 motorway (from north of Kruševac to Čačak) and {{cvt|31|km}}-long segment of A2 (between Čačak and Požega).{{cite news|title=Potpisan komercijalni ugovor za auto-put Preljina–Požega|url=http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/13/ekonomija/2952511/potpisan-komercijalni-ugovor-za-auto-put-preljinapozega.html|access-date=26 June 2018|work=Radio Television of Serbia|date=27 November 2017|language=sr|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224215106/https://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/13/ekonomija/2952511/potpisan-komercijalni-ugovor-za-auto-put-preljinapozega.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://seenews.com/news/serbia-to-invest-800-mln-euro-in-morava-corridor-motorway-project-651609 |title=Serbia to invest 800 mln euro in Morava Corridor motorway project |website=SeeNews |date=23 April 2019 |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225075721/https://seenews.com/news/serbia-to-invest-800-mln-euro-in-morava-corridor-motorway-project-651609 |url-status=live }} Coach transport is very extensive: almost every place in the country is connected by bus, from largest cities to the villages; in addition there are international routes (mainly to countries of Western Europe with large Serb diaspora). Routes, both domestic and international, are served by more than hundred intercity coach services, biggest of which are Lasta and Niš-Ekspres. {{As of|2018}}, there were 1,999,771 registered passenger cars or 1 passenger car per 3.5 inhabitants.{{cite journal |url=http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/PdfE/G20191062.pdf |title=Statistical Release: Registered Road Motor Vehicles and Trailers and Road Traffic Accidents, 2018 |journal=Labour Force Survey |publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia |date=8 March 2019 |issn=0353-9555 |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=5 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705081821/http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/PdfE/G20191062.pdf |url-status=live }}

Serbia has {{cvt|3819|km}} of rail tracks, of which {{cvt|1279|km}} are electrified and {{cvt|283|km}} are double-track railway. The major rail hub is Belgrade (and to a lesser degree Niš), while the most important railways include: Belgrade–Subotica–Budapest (Hungary) (currently upgraded to high-speed status), Belgrade–Bar (Montenegro), Belgrade–Šid–Zagreb (Croatia)/Belgrade–Niš–Sofia (Bulgaria) (part of Pan-European Corridor X), and Niš–Thessaloniki (Greece). Some 75 km (46 mi) of new high-speed rail line between Belgrade and Novi Sad was opened in 2022 and additional 108 km (67 mi) from Novi Sad to Subotica and border with Hungary are currently under construction and due to open in 2025. Construction work for 212 km-long prolongation of the high-speed rail line to the south, to the city of Niš, is set to commence in 2024 and with its planned completion by the end of the decade four of country's five largest cities will be connected by the high-speed rail lines.{{cite web | url=https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/en/186610/belgrade-novi-sad-high-speed-railway-open-to-traffic.php | title=Belgrade-Novi Sad high-speed railway open to traffic | access-date=24 February 2023 | archive-date=24 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224145308/https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/en/186610/belgrade-novi-sad-high-speed-railway-open-to-traffic.php | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://bizlife.rs/novi-sad-subotica-railway-closes-works-on-high-speed-railway-begin/ | title=Novi Sad – Subotica railway closes, works on high-speed railway begin | date=7 April 2022 | access-date=24 February 2023 | archive-date=24 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224145308/https://bizlife.rs/novi-sad-subotica-railway-closes-works-on-high-speed-railway-begin/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2022/11/25/europe-pours-billions-into-serbian-belgrade-nis-line-as-ten-t-extends/ | title=Europe pours billions into Serbian Belgrade-Niš line as TEN-T extends | date=25 November 2022 | access-date=24 February 2023 | archive-date=24 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224145307/https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2022/11/25/europe-pours-billions-into-serbian-belgrade-nis-line-as-ten-t-extends/ | url-status=live }} Rail services are operated by Srbija Voz (passenger transport) and Srbija Kargo (freight transport).{{cite web |url=http://www.serbianrailways.com/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/o_preduzecu/opste_informacije.html |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160518034614/http://www.serbianrailways.com/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/o_preduzecu/opste_informacije.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 May 2016 |title=General Information |publisher=Serbian Railways }}

There are three airports with regular passenger services reaching over 6 million passengers in 2022 with Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport serving bulk of it, being a hub of flagship carrier Air Serbia which flies to 80 destinations in 32 countries (including intercontinental flights to New York City, Chicago and Tianjin) and carried 2.75 million passengers in 2022.{{cite web |title=Destinations |url=https://www.airserbia.com/en/destinations |website=airserbia.com |access-date=19 January 2023 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119004953/https://www.airserbia.com/en/destinations |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Jajcanin |first1=Djordje |title=Air Serbia passenger traffic more than doubles in December |url=https://seenews.com/news/air-serbia-passenger-traffic-more-than-doubles-in-december-810311 |website=seenews.com |date=4 January 2023 |access-date=19 January 2023 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119225644/https://seenews.com/news/air-serbia-passenger-traffic-more-than-doubles-in-december-810311 |url-status=live }}

Serbia has a developed inland water transport since there are {{cvt|1716|km}} of navigable inland waterways ({{cvt|1043|km|disp=comma}} of navigable rivers and {{cvt|673|km|disp=comma}} of navigable canals), which are almost all located in northern third of the country. The most important inland waterway is the Danube. Other navigable rivers include Sava, Tisza, Begej and Timiş Rivers, all of which connect Serbia with Northern and Western Europe through the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal and North Sea route, to Eastern Europe via the Tisza, Begej and Danube Black Sea routes, and to Southern Europe via the Sava river. More than 8 million tonnes of cargo were transported on Serbian rivers and canals in 2018 while the largest river ports are: Novi Sad, Belgrade, Pančevo, Smederevo, Prahovo and Šabac.{{cite journal |url=https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/Pdf/G20192052.pdf |title=Statistical Yearbook |journal=Statistički Godišnjak Srbije = Statistical Yearbook of Serbia |publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia |date=2019 |location=Belgrade |access-date=9 May 2022 |issn=0354-4206 |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510074412/https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/Pdf/G20192052.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.siepa.gov.rs/site/en/home/1/investing_in_serbia/modern_infrastructure/transport/ |title=Investing in Serbia: Modern Infrastructure, Transport |publisher=SIEPA |access-date=28 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091106001304/http://www.siepa.gov.rs/site/en/home/1/investing_in_serbia/modern_infrastructure/transport/ |archive-date=6 November 2009 }}

{{Main|Telecommunications in Serbia}}

Fixed telephone lines connect 81% of households in Serbia, and with about 9.1 million users the number of cellphones surpasses the total population of by 28%. The largest mobile operator is Telekom Srbija with 4.2 million subscribers, followed by Yettel with 2.8 million users and A1 with about 2 million.{{cite web|url= http://www.ratel.rs/upload/documents/Pregled_trzista/Pregled%20trzista%202016.pdf|title= Pregled trzista|date= 2017|website= ratel.rs|access-date= 4 February 2018|archive-date= 5 February 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180205072158/http://www.ratel.rs/upload/documents/Pregled_trzista/Pregled%20trzista%202016.pdf|url-status= live}} Some 58% of households have fixed-line (non-mobile) broadband Internet connection while 67% are provided with pay television services (i.e. 38% cable television, 17% IPTV, and 10% satellite). Digital television transition has been completed in 2015 with DVB-T2 standard for signal transmission.Jovanka Matic and Larisa Rankovic, "[http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/serbia Serbia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113100100/http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/serbia |date=13 January 2016 }}", EJC Media Landscapes; accessed 11 March 2016{{cite web|url=http://www.etv.rs/etvesti/87-etvakcije/281-zavrsena-digitalizacija|title=ZAVRŠENA DIGITALIZACIJA!|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085213/http://www.etv.rs/etvesti/87-etvakcije/281-zavrsena-digitalizacija|archive-date=4 March 2016}}

{{Main|Tourism in Serbia}}

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| footer = Clockwise from top left: Kopaonik ski resort, Subotica a city built in Art Nouveau style, Golubac Fortress, Studenica Monastery a UNESCO World Heritage Site

}}

Serbia is not a mass-tourism destination but nevertheless has a diverse range of touristic products.{{cite web |url=http://www.serbia-times.com/dacic-tourism-records-positive-growth-rates/ |title=Serbia Times Daily News – Dacic: Tourism records positive growth rates |publisher=Serbia-times.com |date=28 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101215047/http://www.serbia-times.com/dacic-tourism-records-positive-growth-rates/ |archive-date=1 November 2013 }} In 2019, total of over 3.6 million tourists were recorded in accommodations, of which half were foreign.{{cite web|url=https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2020/pdf/G20201020.pdf|title=Office of the Republic of Serbia, data for 2019|access-date=10 April 2020|archive-date=31 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131114100/https://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2020/pdf/G20201020.pdf|url-status=live}} Foreign exchange earnings from tourism were estimated at $1.5 billion.{{Cite web |url=https://www.blic.rs/biznis/vesti/ljajic-cilj-je-17-milijardi-dolara-od-turizma-u-2019-godini/s7bhyxq |title=Ljajić: Cilj je 1,7 milijardi dolara od turizma u 2019. godini |date=21 February 2019 |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722164109/https://www.blic.rs/biznis/vesti/ljajic-cilj-je-17-milijardi-dolara-od-turizma-u-2019-godini/s7bhyxq |url-status=live }}

Tourism is mainly focused on the mountains and spas of the country, which are mostly visited by domestic tourists, as well as Belgrade and, to a lesser degree, Novi Sad, which are preferred choices of foreign tourists (almost two-thirds of all foreign visits are made to these two cities).{{cite web |url=http://au.totaltravel.yahoo.com/destinations/destination/serbia/ |title=Serbia |publisher=au.totaltravel.yahoo.com |access-date=20 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102021309/http://au.totaltravel.yahoo.com/destinations/destination/serbia/ |archive-date=2 November 2013 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/repository/documents/00/02/64/14/16-Turizam.pdf|title=Tourism|website=stat.gov.rs|access-date=24 October 2017|archive-date=24 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024205535/http://www.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/repository/documents/00/02/64/14/16-Turizam.pdf|url-status=live}} The most famous mountain resorts are Kopaonik, Stara Planina and Zlatibor. There are also many spas in Serbia, the biggest of which are Vrnjačka Banja, Soko Banja, and Banja Koviljača. City-break and conference tourism is developed in Belgrade and Novi Sad.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/putovanja/vesti.php?yyyy=2014&mm=02&dd=06&nav_id=808985|title=Putovanja – Porast broja turista u Beogradu u 2013. – B92 Putovanja|website=B92|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=10 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010102244/http://www.b92.net/putovanja/vesti.php?yyyy=2014&mm=02&dd=06&nav_id=808985|url-status=live}} Other touristic products that Serbia offer are natural wonders like Đavolja varoš,{{cite web |url=http://www.serbia.travel/nature/natural-monuments/djavolja-varos/ |title=Đavolja varoš |access-date=20 March 2013 |publisher=serbia.travel |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508104848/https://www.serbia.travel/nature/natural-monuments/djavolja-varos/ |archive-date=8 May 2013 }} Christian pilgrimage to the many Orthodox monasteries across the country and the river cruising along the Danube. There are several internationally popular music festivals held in Serbia, such as EXIT and the Guča trumpet festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=1087&yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=01&nav_id=522607 |title=Kultura – Vesti – Na Exitu oko 25 hiljada stranaca |date=7 January 2011 |publisher=B92 |access-date=13 November 2013 |archive-date=13 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813100508/http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=1087&yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=01&nav_id=522607 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Education in Serbia}}

According to 2011 census, literacy in Serbia stands at 98% of population while computer literacy is at 49% (complete computer literacy is at 34.2%).[http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Skolska%20sprema,%20pismenost%20i%20kompjuterska%20pismenost-Educational%20attainment,%20literacy%20and%20computer%20literacy%20.pdf 2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808003023/http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/Popis2011/Skolska%20sprema,%20pismenost%20i%20kompjuterska%20pismenost-Educational%20attainment,%20literacy%20and%20computer%20literacy%20.pdf |date=8 August 2019 }} Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia Same census showed the following levels of education: 16.2% of inhabitants have higher education (10.6% have bachelors or master's degrees, 5.6% have an associate degree), 49% have a secondary education, 20.7% have an elementary education, and 13.7% have not completed elementary education.{{cite web|url=http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/public/PublicationView.aspx?pKey=41&pLevel=1&pubType=2&pubKey=1565|title=Education stats in Serbia|website=webrzs.stat.gov.rs|access-date=20 March 2013|archive-date=29 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329042240/http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/public/PublicationView.aspx?pKey=41&pLevel=1&pubType=2&pubKey=1565|url-status=dead}}

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| caption1 = {{font|size=100%|text=|Nikola Tesla was an electrical engineer who helped to develop the modern alternating current electricity supply system{{cite book|last=Laplante|first=Phillip A.|title=Comprehensive Dictionary of Electrical Engineering |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=soSsLATmZnkC|page=635|publisher=Springer|year=1999|isbn=978-3-540-64835-2 }}{{cite web | title=Tesla (1856) | website=Energy Kids: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) | url=https://www.eia.gov/kids/history-of-energy/famous-people/tesla.php#:~:text=Nikola%20Tesla%20(1856)&text=Nikola%20Tesla%20was%20born%20in,greater%20distances%20than%20direct%20current. | access-date=3 December 2023}}}}

| image2 = Milutin Milanković 2.jpg

| caption2 = {{font|size=100%|text=Milutin Milanković was a climate science theorist who founded the Milankovitch cycles theory{{cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Milankovitch/ |title=Milutin Milankovitch : Feature Articles |publisher=Earthobservatory.nasa.gov |access-date=15 August 2012|date=24 March 2000 |quote=The Serbian astrophysicist Milutin Milankovitch is best known for developing one of the most significant theories relating Earth motions and long-term climate change.}}{{cite web | last=Buis | first=Alan | title=Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles and Their Role in Earth's Climate – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet | website=Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet | date=27 February 2020 | url=https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/#:~:text=A%20century%20ago%2C%20Serbian%20scientist,glaciation%20periods%20(Ice%20Ages). | access-date=3 December 2023}}}}

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Education in Serbia is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Science. Education starts in either preschools or elementary schools. Children enroll in elementary schools at the age of seven. Compulsory education consists of eight grades of elementary school. Students have the opportunity to attend gymnasiums and vocational schools for another four years, or to enroll in vocational training for two to three years.

Following the completion of gymnasiums or vocational schools, students have the opportunity to attend university.{{cite web|url=http://www.ei-ie.org/barometer/en/profiles_detail.php?country=serbia|title=Education rights|website=ei-ie.org|access-date=20 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027072732/http://www.ei-ie.org/barometer/en/profiles_detail.php?country=serbia|archive-date=27 October 2007}} Elementary and secondary education are also available in languages of recognised minorities in Serbia, where classes are held in Hungarian, Slovak, Albanian, Romanian, Rusyn, Bulgarian as well as Bosnian and Croatian languages. Petnica Science Centre is a notable institution for extracurricular science education focusing on gifted students.{{cite web|url=http://almanah.petnica.rs/23/01.html|title=Petnica kao nacionalni brend|website=almanah.petnica.rs|access-date=1 September 2019}}

File:KnezMihailova ped.jpg in Belgrade, founded in 1841]]

There are 19 universities in Serbia (nine public universities with a total number of 86 faculties and ten private universities with 51 faculties).[http://www.pregled-rs.com/article.php?pid=144&id=14338 Survey Serbia Online], Retrieved on 31 July 2009 In 2018/2019 academic year, 210,480 students attended 19 universities (181,310 at public universities and some 29,170 at private universities) while 47,169 attended 81 "higher schools".{{cite web |title=Уписани студенти, 2018/2019. школска година |url=http://publikacije.stat.gov.rs/G2019/Pdf/G20191167.pdf |website=stat.gov.rs |publisher=Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia |access-date=30 June 2019 |language=sr |date=25 June 2019}} Public universities in Serbia are: the University of Belgrade, University of Novi Sad, University of Niš, University of Kragujevac, University of Priština, Public University of Novi Pazar as well as three specialist universities – University of Arts, University of Defence and University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies. Largest private universities include Megatrend University and Singidunum University, both in Belgrade, and Educons University in Novi Sad. The University of Belgrade (placed in 301–400 bracket on 2013 Shanghai Ranking of World Universities, being best-placed university in Southeast Europe after those in Athens and Thessaloniki) and University of Novi Sad are generally considered the best institutions of higher learning in the country.{{cite web|url=http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2013.html|title=Academic Ranking of World Universities – 2013 – Top 500 universities – Shanghai Ranking – 2013 – World University Ranking – 2013|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=11 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311085241/http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2013.html|url-status=dead}}

Serbia spent 0.9% of GDP on scientific research in 2017, which is slightly below the European average.[https://knoema.com/atlas/Serbia/topics/Research-and-Development/RandD-Expenditure/RandD-expenditure-as-a-share-of-GDP Serbia R&D expenditure as a share of GDP, 1960–2018 – knoema.com] Serbia was ranked 52nd in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.{{Cite book |author=World Intellectual Property Organization |year=2024 |title=Global Innovation Index 2024: Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=www.wipo.int |page=18 |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.50062 |isbn=978-92-805-3681-2}} Since 2018, Serbia is a full member of CERN.{{cite web|url=https://www.srbija.gov.rs/vest/en/135251/cern-council-unanimously-adopts-resolution-for-serbia-to-become-full-member.php|title=CERN Council unanimously adopts resolution for Serbia to become full member|last=srbija.gov.rs|website=www.srbija.gov.rs|language=en|access-date=10 January 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a444118/Serbia-becomes-forth-non-Europen-Union-member-state-to-join-CERN.html|title=Serbia becomes CERN member state|website=N1 Srbija|date=14 December 2018|language=sr-Latn|access-date=10 January 2019|archive-date=10 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110183341/http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a444118/Serbia-becomes-forth-non-Europen-Union-member-state-to-join-CERN.html|url-status=dead}} Serbia has a long history of excellence in maths and computer sciences which has created a strong pool of engineering talent, although economic sanctions during the 1990s and chronic underinvestment in research forced many scientific professionals to leave the country.{{cite web|url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/243991/Vise-od-10000-naucnika-napustilo-Srbiju|title=Blic Online – Više od 10.000 naučnika napustilo Srbiju |website=Blic Online|date=27 March 2011 |access-date=27 October 2014}} Nevertheless, there are several areas in which Serbia still excels such as growing information technology sector, which includes software development as well as outsourcing. It generated over $1.2 billion in exports in 2018, both from international investors and a significant number of dynamic homegrown enterprises.{{cite web|url=https://www.serbianmonitor.com/en/serbia-generates-over-1-bln-euro-in-ict-exports-for-the-first-time-ever/|title = Serbia generates over 1 BLN euro in ICT exports for the first time ever|date = 25 February 2019}} Serbia is one of the countries with the highest proportion of women in science.{{cite journal|last1=Holman|first1=Luke|last2=Stuart-Fox|first2=Devi|last3=E. Hauser |first3=Cindy |title=The gender gap in science: How long until women are equally represented?|journal=PLOS Biology|date=April 2018 |volume=16 |issue=4|pages=e2004956|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.2004956|pmid=29672508|pmc=5908072|doi-access=free}}

Among the scientific institutes operating in Serbia, the largest are the Mihajlo Pupin Institute and Vinča Nuclear Institute, both in Belgrade. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is a learned society promoting science and arts from its inception in 1841.{{cite web|url=http://www.sanu.ac.rs/english/Index.aspx|title=SASA|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020062034/http://www.sanu.ac.rs/English/Index.aspx |archive-date=20 October 2014|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Serbian culture}}

File:Beli andjeo2.jpg's White Angel fresco (1235)]]

For centuries straddling the boundaries between East and West, the territory of Serbia had been divided among the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire; then between Byzantium and the Kingdom of Hungary; and in the early modern period between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Empire. These overlapping influences have resulted in cultural varieties throughout Serbia; its north leans to the profile of Central Europe, while the south is characteristic of the wider Balkans and even the Mediterranean. Serbia was influenced by the Republic of Venice as well, mainly though trade, literature and romanesque architecture.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ML-aXrrBrv8C&q=Venetian+influences+on+Serbian+culture&pg=PA1616|title=World and Its Peoples|date=2010|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7903-1|language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Mihajlović |first=Radmila |date=2018|title=Following the traces of Serbs through Northern Italy |journal=Basis of Cultural Tourism Development|location=Rome|pages=37–39}}

Serbia has five cultural monuments inscribed in the list of UNESCO World Heritage: the early medieval capital Stari Ras and the 13th-century monastery Sopoćani; the 12th-century Studenica monastery; the Roman complex of Gamzigrad–Felix Romuliana; medieval tombstones Stećci; and finally the endangered Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (the monasteries of Visoki Dečani, Our Lady of Ljeviš, Gračanica and Patriarchal Monastery of Peć).{{sfn|Čanak-Medić|Todić|2017|p=}}

There are four literary works on UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme: the 12th-century Miroslav Gospel, the electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla's archive, the telegram of Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia, and the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement archives.{{cite web|title=Memory of the World International Register - Serbia|url=https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/list?f%5B0%5D=countries%3A30d9168e-1b8a-57e7-8d65-5555dd3a97ba |access-date=4 December 2024|website=www.unesco.org/}} The slava (patron saint veneration), kolo (traditional folk dance), singing to the accompaniment of the gusle, Zlakusa pottery, slivovitz (plum brandy) and naïve painting practices of Kovačica are inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.{{cite web|title=Serbia Intangible Heritage|url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/state/serbia-RS |access-date=4 December 2024|website=www.unesco.org/}} The Ministry of Culture and Information is tasked with preserving the nation's cultural heritage and overseeing its development, with further activities undertaken by local governments.

{{Main|Serbian art|Serbian architecture}}

File:Kosovski božuri.jpg, part of the collection of the National Museum of Serbia{{Cite web |title=Надежда Петровић, Косовски божури (Грачаница), 1913. {{!}} Народни музеј |url=https://www.narodnimuzej.rs/nadezhda-petrovi-kosovski-bozhuri-grachanitsa-1913-2/?lang=en |access-date=27 July 2024 |language=en-US}}]]

Traces of Roman and early Byzantine Empire architectural heritage are found in many royal cities and palaces in Serbia, such as Sirmium, Viminacium, Mediana, Felix Romuliana and Justiniana Prima, since 535 the seat of the Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima.{{sfn|Turlej|2016|p=193}}{{Cite web |title=INSTITUTE FOR THE PROTECTION OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS OF SERBIA - BELGRADE |url=https://www.heritage.gov.rs/english/nepokretna_kulturna_dobra.php |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=www.heritage.gov.rs}}

Serbian monasteries were under the influence of Byzantine art, particularly after the fall of Constantinople in 1204 when many Byzantine artists fled to Serbia.{{cite web | title=Serbian art | website=The Royal Family of Serbia | date=25 April 2020 | url=https://royalfamily.org/about-serbia/serbian-art/ | access-date=20 June 2021}} The monasteries include Studenica (built around 1190), which was a model for such later monasteries as Mileševa, Sopoćani, Žiča, Gračanica and Visoki Dečani. Numerous monuments and cultural sites were destroyed at various stages of Serbian history, including destruction in Kosovo. In the late 14th and the 15th centuries, an autochthonous architectural style known as Morava style evolved in the area around Morava Valley. A characteristic of this style was the wealthy decoration of the frontal church walls. Examples of this include Manasija, Ravanica and Kalenić monasteries.

Frescos include White Angel (Mileševa monastery), Crucifixion (Studenica monastery) and Dormition of the Virgin (Sopoćani).{{cite web|url=http://afrodita.rcub.bg.ac.rs/~todorom/tutorials/rad43.html|title=Spirituality and Materiality on Serbian Frescoes |website=afrodita.rcub.bg.ac.rs|access-date=28 April 2019}}

The country is dotted with many well-preserved medieval fortifications and castles such as Smederevo Fortress (largest lowland fortress in Europe),{{cite web|url=https://www.turorama.com/day-tours/private-day-tours-from-belgrade/viminacium-smederevo-fortress|title=Viminacium & Smederevo fortress|website=www.turorama.com|language=en-gb|access-date=1 August 2019}} Golubac, Maglič, Soko grad, Belgrade Fortress, Ostrvica and Ram.

Under Ottoman occupation, Serbian art was virtually non-existent outside the lands ruled by the Habsburg monarchy. Traditional Serbian art showed Baroque influences at the end of the 18th century as shown in the works of Nikola Nešković, Teodor Kračun, Zaharije Orfelin and Jakov Orfelin.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/dmedakovic-art_xviii-xix.html |title=Art in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=21 March 2013}} Serbian painting showed the influence of Biedermeier and Neoclassicism as seen in works by Konstantin Danil,{{cite web|url=http://www.galerijamaticesrpske.rs/en/biedermeier.html|title=Biedermeier Of The 19th Century|website=www.galerijamaticesrpske.rs|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-date=10 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110123113/http://www.galerijamaticesrpske.rs/en/biedermeier.html|url-status=dead}} Arsenije Teodorović and Pavel Đurković.{{cite web|url=https://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=1144228|title=19. vek|website=Nedeljnik Vreme|date=16 October 2013|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-date=2 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302014859/https://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=1144228|url-status=dead}} Many painters followed the artistic trends set in the 19th century Romanticism, notably Đura Jakšić, Stevan Todorović, Katarina Ivanović and Novak Radonić.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQBUJVwjcjsC&pg=PA43|title=Serbia|last=Mitchell|first=Laurence|date=2010|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-326-9|page=43}}{{cite web|url=http://www.galerijamaticesrpske.rs/en/romanticism.html|title=Romanticism Of The 19th Century|website=www.galerijamaticesrpske.rs|access-date=10 June 2019|archive-date=4 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404044027/http://www.galerijamaticesrpske.rs/en/romanticism.html|url-status=dead}} Serbian painters of the first half of the 20th century include Paja Jovanović and Uroš Predić of Realism, Cubist Sava Šumanović, Milena Pavlović-Barili and Nadežda Petrović of Impressionism, Expressionist Milan Konjović. Painters of the second half of 20th century include Marko Čelebonović, Petar Lubarda, Milo Milunović, Ljubomir Popović and Vladimir Veličković.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/mprotic-art_xx_a.html |title=Painting and sculpture in the twentieth century |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=21 March 2013}}

Anastas Jovanović was one of the earliest photographers in the world. Marina Abramović is a performance artist. Pirot carpet is a traditional handicraft in Serbia.{{cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/serbia/articles/the-rich-history-of-serbias-pirot-rugs/|title=The Rich History of Serbia's Pirot Rugs|last=Bills|first=John William|website=Culture Trip|date=25 June 2018|access-date=26 April 2019}}{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/22/world/europe/pirot-carpets-serbia/index.html|title=Magic and mystery weaved through threads of Pirot carpets|author=Milena Veselinovic, for|website=CNN|date=22 December 2014|language=en-US|access-date=26 April 2019}}

There are around 180 museums in Serbia,{{cite web|url=http://muzejirade.com/muzeji/|title=Lista muzeja|website=muzejirade.com|language=en-GB|access-date=17 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417195522/http://muzejirade.com/muzeji/|archive-date=17 April 2019|url-status=dead}} including the National Museum of Serbia, founded in 1844, houses one of the largest art collections in the Balkans.{{cite web|url=https://myforevertravel.com/national-museum-belgrade-international-collection/|title=International Collection – National Museum Belgrade|date=23 February 2019|website=My Forever Travel|language=en-GB|access-date=26 April 2019}} Other art museums include the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, the Museum of Vojvodina and the Gallery of Matica Srpska in Novi Sad.

{{Main|Serbian literature}}

File:Page of Miroslav Gospel 01.jpg (1186) is a 362-page illuminated manuscript on parchment listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register]]

Serbian uses the Cyrillic alphabet created by the students of the brothers Cyril and Methodius at the Preslav Literary School in Bulgaria.{{cite book | first=Francis | last=Dvornik |title=The Slavs: Their Early History and Civilization | quote = The Psalter and the Book of Prophets were adapted or "modernized" with special regard to their use in Bulgarian churches, and it was in this school that glagolitic writing was replaced by the so-called Cyrillic writing, which was more akin to the Greek uncial, simplified matters considerably and is still used by the Orthodox Slavs. | year=1956 |place=Boston | publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |page=179}}{{cite web | title=History | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Serbia | access-date=20 June 2021}} Serbian works from the early 11th century are written in Glagolitic. Starting in the 12th century, books were written in Cyrillic. The Miroslav Gospels from 1186 are considered to be the oldest book of Serbian medieval history and are listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.{{cite web|title= Miroslav Gospel – Manuscript from 1180 |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/flagship-project-activities/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-5/miroslav-gospel-manuscript-from-1180/| date=19 January 2014 |publisher=UNESCO Memory of the World Programme |access-date=14 December 2009}}

There are 551 public libraries, the largest of which are the National Library of Serbia in Belgrade with about 6 million items, and Matica Srpska (the oldest matica and Serbian cultural institution, founded in 1826) in Novi Sad with nearly 3.5 million volumes.{{cite web |title=Vesti online / Scena / Kultura / Narodna biblioteka slavi 180. rođendan |url=http://www.vesti-online.com/Scena/Kultura/206269/Narodna-biblioteka-slavi-180-rodendan |access-date=27 October 2014 |website=Vesti online}}{{cite web |title=THE MATICA SRPSKA LIBRARY |url=http://www.bms.ns.ac.rs/bmseng101b.htm |access-date=27 October 2014}} In 2010, there were 10,989 books and brochures published. The book publishing market is dominated by several major publishers such as Laguna and Vulkan. The industry's centrepiece event, annual Belgrade Book Fair, is the most visited cultural event in Serbia with 158,128 visitors in 2013.[http://www.beogradskisajamknjiga.com/system/en/home/newsplus/viewsingle/_params/newsplus_news_id/21675.html 2013 Book Fair in figures] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111100947/http://www.beogradskisajamknjiga.com/system/en/home/newsplus/viewsingle/_params/newsplus_news_id/21675.html|date=11 November 2013}} Belgrade Book Fair. The highlight of the literary scene is awarding of NIN Prize, given every January since 1954 for the best newly published novel in Serbian.{{cite web |title=Aleksandar Gatalica Wins NIN Literary Prize |url=http://www.thebalkansdaily.com/aleksandar-gatalica-wins-nin-literary-prize/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009120700/http://www.thebalkansdaily.com/aleksandar-gatalica-wins-nin-literary-prize/ |archive-date=9 October 2014 |access-date=27 October 2014 |website=The Balkans Daily}}{{cite web |date=16 January 2019 |title=Vladimir Tabasevic winner of NIN Literary Award |url=https://www.serbianmonitor.com/en/vladimir-tabasevic-winner-of-nin-literary-award/ |access-date=27 April 2019 |website=Serbian Monitor |language=en-US}}

Medieval authors include Saint Sava, Jefimija, Stefan Lazarević, Constantine of Kostenets and others.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_01.html#_Toc412462947 |title=Stara književnost |language=sr |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=20 March 2013}} Under Ottoman occupation, when Serbia was not part of the European Renaissance, the tradition of oral story-telling through epic poetry was inspired by the Kosovo battle and folk tales rooted in Slavic mythology. Serbian epic poetry in those times was seen as the most effective way in preserving the national identity.{{sfn|Dragnich|1994|pp=29–30}}{{cite book|editor-first1=Norman M.|editor-last1=Naimarkan|editor-first2=Holly |editor-last2=Case |first1=Wendy |last1=Bracewell |chapter=The Proud Name of Hadjaks |title=Yugoslavia and Its Historians: Understanding the Balkan Wars of the 1990s |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5tUbUyXtToC&pg=PA25|year=2003|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-8029-2|pages=25–}} The oldest known, entirely fictional poems, make up the Non-historic cycle, which is followed by poems inspired by events before, during and after the Battle of Kosovo. Folk ballads include The Death of the Mother of the Jugović Family and The Mourning Song of the Noble Wife of the Asan Aga (1646), translated into European languages by Goethe, Walter Scott, Pushkin and Mérimée. A tale from Serbian folklore is The Nine Peahens and the Golden Apples.[http://www.zeno.org/nid/20007912420 Volksmärchen der Serben: Der goldene Apfelbaum und die neun Pfauinnen], on zeno.org.

Baroque trends in Serbian literature emerged in the late 17th century. Baroque-influenced authors include Gavril Stefanović Venclović, Jovan Rajić, Zaharije Orfelin and Andrija Zmajević.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_03.html |title=Od stare k novoj književnosti (Barokne tendencije) |language=sr |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=20 March 2013}} Dositej Obradović was a prominent figure of the Age of Enlightenment, while Jovan Sterija Popović was a Classicist writer whose works also contained elements of Romanticism.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_04.html |title=Prosvećenost i počeci nove književnosti |language=sr |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=20 March 2013}} In the era of national revival, in the first half of the 19th century, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić collected Serbian folk literature, and reformed the Serbian language and spelling,{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_06.html |title=Predromantizam (Književnost Vukovog doba) |language=sr |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=20 March 2013}} paving the way for Serbian Romanticism. The first half of the 19th century was dominated by Romanticist writers, including Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, Branko Radičević, Đura Jakšić, Jovan Jovanović Zmaj and Laza Kostić, while the second half of the century was marked by Realist writers such as Milovan Glišić, Laza Lazarević, Simo Matavulj, Stevan Sremac, Vojislav Ilić, Branislav Nušić, Radoje Domanović and Borisav Stanković.

The 20th century was dominated by the prose writers Meša Selimović (Death and the Dervish), Miloš Crnjanski (Migrations), Isidora Sekulić (The Chronicle of a Small Town Cemetery), Branko Ćopić (Eagles Fly Early), Borislav Pekić (The Time of Miracles), Danilo Kiš (The Encyclopedia of the Dead), Dobrica Ćosić (The Roots), Aleksandar Tišma (The Use of Man), Milorad Pavić and others.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_07.html |title=Romantizam |language=sr |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=20 March 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_08.html |title=Realizam |language=sr |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=20 March 2013}} Notable poets include Milan Rakić, Jovan Dučić, Vladislav Petković Dis, Rastko Petrović, Stanislav Vinaver, Dušan Matić, Branko Miljković, Vasko Popa, Oskar Davičo, Miodrag Pavlović, and Stevan Raičković.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/knjizevnost/jderetic_knjiz/jderetic-knjiz_12.html |title=Posleratna književnost |language=sr |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=20 March 2013}}

File:Stevan Kragujevic, Dobrica Cosic i Ivo Andric.jpg, Nobel Prize winner in 1961 and writer and politician Dobrica Ćosić]]

Pavić is a 21st-century Serbian author whose Dictionary of the Khazars has been translated into 38 languages.{{cite web|url=http://www.khazars.com/en/catalog/dictionary-of-the-khazars|title=Dictionary of the Khazars – Милорад Павић|website=www.khazars.com|access-date=26 April 2019|archive-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425220901/http://khazars.com/en/catalog/dictionary-of-the-khazars|url-status=dead}} Contemporary authors include David Albahari, Svetislav Basara, Goran Petrović, Gordana Kuić, Vuk Drašković and Vladislav Bajac. Serbian comics emerged in the 1930s and the medium remains popular today.{{Cite web |title=STEREOTIPI U SRPSKOM ISTORIJSKOM STRIPU |url=https://www.canforbalkans.eu/the-research-project/study-on-cultural-and-social-cliches-and-stereotypes/stereotipi-u-srpskom-istorijskom-stripu/ |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=CAN for BALKANS |language=en-US}}

Ivo Andrić (The Bridge on the Drina) is a Serbian author{{sfn|Snel|2004|p=209}} who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. Another writer was Desanka Maksimović, who for seven decades was the leading lady of Yugoslav poetry.{{sfn|Deliso|2009|p=110}}{{sfn|Vidan|2016|p=494}}{{sfn|Hawkesworth|2000|p=15}}{{sfn|Hawkesworth|2000|p=203}}{{sfn|Juraga|2002|p=204}}

{{Main|Music of Serbia}}

Composer and musicologist Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac is considered the founder of modern Serbian music.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/isk_17.html |title=Projekat Rastko: Istorija srpske kulture |publisher=Rastko.rs |access-date=24 May 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.riznicasrpska.net/muzika/index.php?topic=60.0 |title=Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac (1856–1914) |publisher=Riznicasrpska.net |date=28 September 1914 |access-date=24 May 2012 |archive-date=26 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926231446/http://www.riznicasrpska.net/muzika/index.php?topic=60.0 |url-status=dead }} The Serbian composers of the first generation Petar Konjović, Stevan Hristić, and Miloje Milojević maintained the national expression and modernised the romanticism into the direction of impressionism.{{Cite journal |last=Sterbik|first=Anita|title=Istorija nacionalne muzike 1. Muzika u srednjevekovnoj Srbiji (izvori, duhovna i svetovna muzika) |url=https://www.academia.edu/31544416 |language=bs |website=www.academia.edu}}{{Cite journal|last=Đurković|first=Miša|date=2004|title=Ideološki i politički sukobi oko popularne muzike u Srbiji|url=http://instifdt.bg.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/2004/09/M.Djurkovic.pdf|journal=Institut Za Evropske Studije|page=275|access-date=26 April 2019|archive-date=8 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808002555/http://instifdt.bg.ac.rs/wp-content/uploads/2004/09/M.Djurkovic.pdf|url-status=dead}} Other famous classical Serbian composers include Isidor Bajić, Stanislav Binički and Josif Marinković.{{cite web |url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/rpejovic-music_xviii-xx.html|title=Roksanda Pejovic – Musical composition and performance from the eighteenth century to the present |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=21 March 2013}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-NdDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT126|title=A Brief History of Serbian Music|last=Dorich|first=William|date=21 November 2011|publisher=BookBaby|isbn=978-1-882383-91-7|page=126}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} There are three opera houses in Serbia: Opera of the National Theatre and Madlenianum Opera, both in Belgrade, and Opera of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad. Four symphonic orchestra operate in the country: Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Niš Symphony Orchestra, Novi Sad Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphonic Orchestra of Radio Television of Serbia. The Choir of Radio Television of Serbia is a leading vocal ensemble in the country.[http://www.rts.rs/page/rts/sr/Muzicka+produkcija/story/95/Hor+RTS/1764/O+Horu+RTS.html O Horu RTS] PTC The BEMUS is one of the most prominent classical music festivals in the Southeastern Europe.{{Cite web |last=Tanjug |date=4 October 2022 |title="Zavodljivo... Kao Muzika": Prva zvezda ovogodišnjeg Bemusa je Ivo Pogorelić |url=https://www.euronews.rs/kultura/aktuelno-iz-kulture/64376/zavodljivo-kao-muzika-prva-zvezda-ovogodisnjeg-bemusa-je-ivo-pogorelic/vest |access-date=30 July 2024 |website=Euronews.rs |language=sr}}

File:Споменик косовским јунацима у Крушевцу 6.JPG sings to the gusle by Sreten Stojanović, Kruševac, central Serbia]]

Traditional Serbian music includes various kinds of bagpipes, flutes, horns, trumpets, lutes, psalteries, drums and cymbals. The kolo is the traditional collective folk dance, which has a number of varieties throughout the regions. The most popular are those from Užice and Morava region. Sung epic poetry has been an integral part of Serbian and Balkan music for centuries. In the highlands of Serbia these long poems are typically accompanied on a one-string fiddle called the gusle, and concern themselves with themes from history and mythology. There are records of gusle being played at the court of the 13th-century king Stefan the First-Crowned.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/rpejovic-medieval_music.html |title=Roksanda Pejovic – Medieval music |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=21 March 2013}}

Balkan Brass, or truba ("trumpet") is a popular genre, especially in Central and Southern Serbia where Balkan Brass originated. There are two main varieties of this genre, one from Western Serbia and the other from Southern Serbia, with brass musician Boban Marković being one of the most respected names in the world of modern brass band bandleaders.{{cite web |date=25 January 2016 |title=Boban and Marko Marković Brass Band - |url=http://www.panacomp.net/boban-and-marko-markovic-brass-band/ |access-date=27 April 2019}}

The most popular music festivals are Guča Trumpet Festival, with over 300,000 annual visitors, and Exit in Novi Sad (won the Best Major Festival award at the European Festivals Awards for 2013 and 2017.), with 200,000 visitors in 2013.{{cite web |date=2 September 2007 |title=Sabor trubača GUČA |url=http://www.guca.rs/eng/strana.php?str=history |access-date=14 November 2010 |publisher=www.guca.rs}}{{cite web |title=Interesting facts about Exit |url=http://www.exitfest.org/en/content/interesting-facts-about-exit |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125073641/http://www.exitfest.org/en/content/interesting-facts-about-exit |archive-date=25 January 2013 |access-date=20 March 2013 |publisher=exitfest.org}} Other festivals include Nišville Jazz Festival in Niš and Gitarijada rock festival in Zaječar.

Pop music artist Željko Joksimović won second place at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest and Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Molitva", and Serbia was the host of the 2008 edition of the contest. Pop singers include Zdravko Čolić, Vlado Georgiev, Aleksandra Radović, Jelena Tomašević, Nataša Bekvalac, Jelena Karleuša and Teya Dora among others.

Serbian rock was part of the former Yugoslav rock scene during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. During the 1990s and 2000s, the popularity of rock music declined in Serbia,{{Cite journal|last=Gordy|first=Eric D.|date=1 September 2000|title=Turbaši and Rokeri as Windows into Serbia's Social Divide |url=http://journals.openedition.org/balkanologie/774 |journal=Balkanologie. Revue d'études pluridisciplinaires|language=fr|volume=IV|issue=1|doi=10.4000/balkanologie.774|issn=1279-7952}} and although several major mainstream acts managed to sustain their popularity, an underground and independent music scene developed.{{Cite journal|last=Mijatovic|first=Brana|date=Summer 2008|title="Throwing Stones at the System": Rock Music in Serbia during the 1990s|journal=Music and Politics|volume=II|issue=2|doi=10.3998/mp.9460447.0002.203|issn=1938-7687|hdl=2027/spo.9460447.0002.203|doi-access=free}} The 2000s saw a revival of the mainstream scene and the appearance of a large number of notable acts. Serbian rock acts include Atheist Rap, Bajaga i Instruktori, Đorđe Balašević, Bjesovi, Block Out, Crni Biseri, Darkwood Dub, Disciplina Kičme, Elipse, Ekatarina Velika, Električni Orgazam, Eva Braun, Galija, Generacija 5, Goblini, Idoli, Kanda, Kodža i Nebojša, Kerber, Korni Grupa, Laboratorija Zvuka, Slađana Milošević, Neverne Bebe, Obojeni Programme, Orthodox Celts, Partibrejkers, Pekinška Patka, Piloti, Riblja Čorba, Ritam Nereda, Rambo Amadeus, S.A.R.S., Siluete, S Vremena Na Vreme, Šarlo Akrobata, Pop Mašina, Smak, U Škripcu, Van Gogh, YU Grupa, Zana and others.File:Drone shot of Exit fest 2021.jpg in Novi Sad, proclaimed as the Best Major European festival at the EU Festival Awards{{cite web|url=https://www.exitfest.org/en/on-its-18th-edition-exit-celebrated-the-best-major-european-festival-title-with-200-000-visitors/|title=On its 18th edition EXIT celebrated the Best Major European festival title with 200.000 visitors!|date=18 July 2018|website=EXIT Festival 2019|language=en-US|access-date=9 June 2019}}]]

Folk music in its original form has been a prominent music style since World War I following the early success of Sofka Nikolić. The music has been further promoted by Danica Obrenić, Anđelija Milić, Nada Mamula, and during the 60s and 70s with performers like Silvana Armenulić, Toma Zdravković, Lepa Lukić, Vasilija Radojčić, Vida Pavlović and Gordana Stojićević.

Turbo-folk music is a subgenre that was developed in Serbia in the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s{{Cite journal|last=Slavková|first=Markéta|title=Echoing the Beats of Turbo-folk: Popular Music and Nationalism in ex-Yugoslavia|url=https://www.academia.edu/2561808|website=www.academia.edu}} and has since enjoyed an immense popularity{{cite news |url=https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/7805/turbofolk-serbias-weird-wonderful-pop-music |title=Turbofolk: how Serbia's weird and wonderful pop music came in from the cold|last=eurovicious |website=The Calvert Journal|access-date=26 April 2019}} through acts of Dragana Mirković, Zorica Brunclik, Šaban Šaulić, Ana Bekuta, Sinan Sakić, Vesna Zmijanac, Mile Kitić, Snežana Đurišić, Šemsa Suljaković, and Nada Topčagić. It is a blend of folk music with pop and dance elements and can be seen as a result of the urbanisation of folk music. In recent years, turbo-folk has featured even more pop music elements, and some of the performers have been labeled as pop-folk. The most famous among them are Ceca (often considered to be the biggest music star of Serbia{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12896831|title=Serbia singing star Ceca indicted|date=29 March 2011|access-date=26 April 2019}}), Jelena Karleuša,{{cite web|url=http://bturn.com/175/serbian-guilty-pleasures-who-afraid-of-turbo|title=Serbian guilty pleasures: who's afraid of turbo folk? {{!}} BTURN|access-date=26 April 2019|archive-date=26 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426142209/http://bturn.com/175/serbian-guilty-pleasures-who-afraid-of-turbo|url-status=dead}} Aca Lukas, Seka Aleksić, Dara Bubamara, Indira Radić, Saša Matić, Viki Miljković, Stoja and Lepa Brena, arguably the most prominent performer of former Yugoslavia.{{cite web |url=https://rememberingyugoslavia.com/lepa-brena-yugoslav/|title=Lepa Brena: "A Yugoslav" – Remembering Yugoslavia |access-date=12 September 2019}}

{{Main|Cinema of Serbia}}

Serbia has a well-established theatrical tradition with Joakim Vujić considered the founder of modern Serbian theatre.{{cite web |url=http://www.joakimvujic.com/english.php |title=Joakim Vujic Bio |publisher=joakimvujic.com |access-date=20 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008095136/http://www.joakimvujic.com/english.php |archive-date=8 October 2009 |url-status=dead }} Serbia has 38 professional theatres and 11 theatres for children,Strategija razvoja kulture Republike Srbije od 2019. do 2029. the most important of which are National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, National Theatre in Subotica, National Theatre in Niš and Knjaževsko-srpski teatar in Kragujevac (the oldest theatre in Serbia, established in 1835). The Belgrade International Theatre Festival – BITEF, founded in 1967, is one of the oldest theatre festivals in the world, and it has become one of the five biggest European festivals.{{cite web |url=http://www.bitef.rs/festival/?pg=simple&jez=en&smpl=festival |title=Bitef History |publisher=bitef.com |access-date=20 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605150248/http://www.bitef.rs/festival/?pg=simple&jez=en&smpl=festival |archive-date=5 June 2013 }}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6pFxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136|title=Culture and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro|last=Deliso|first=Christopher|date=30 December 2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-34437-4|page=136}} Sterijino pozorje is, on the other hand, a festival showcasing national drama plays. The most important Serbian playwrights were Jovan Sterija Popović and Branislav Nušić, while recent renowned names are Dušan Kovačević and Biljana Srbljanović.{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/isk/pmarjanovic-theater.html |title=Petar Marjanovic – The theatre |publisher=rastko.rs |access-date=21 March 2013}}

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| caption1 = Emir Kusturica won the {{Lang|fr|Palme d'Or|italic=no}} at the Cannes twice

| image2 = Go East 2015 Zelimir Zilnik (2) (cropped).JPG

| caption2 = Želimir Žilnik won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale

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The country has a rich cinematic legacy.{{Cite web |last=Vourlias |first=Christopher |date=20 December 2019 |title=Serbian Pic Business Rebounds With Film Center Boost |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/spotlight/serbian-pic-business-rebounds-with-film-center-boost-1203446819/ |access-date=31 August 2024 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} Serbia's film scene is one of the most dynamic smaller European cinemas. The film industry is heavily subsidised by the government, mainly through grants approved by the Film Centre of Serbia.{{cite web|url=http://fcs.rs/eng/generic.php?page=fcs|title=Filmski Centar Srbije|website=fcs.rs|access-date=27 April 2019|archive-date=29 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429233756/http://fcs.rs/eng/generic.php?page=fcs|url-status=dead}} As of 2019, there were 26 feature films produced in Serbia, of which 14 were domestic films.{{cite web|url=https://www.filmneweurope.com/countries/serbia |title=Serbia |publisher=FilmNewEurope.com |date= |accessdate=19 November 2021}} There are 23 operating cinemas in the country, with total attendance reaching 4.8 million. A comparatively high percentage of 20% of total tickets sold were for domestic films.{{cite web|url=http://www.seecult.org/vest/povecan-broj-publike-u-bioskopima-u-srbiji |title=Povećan broj publike u bioskopima u Srbiji |publisher=SEEcult.org |date= 31 January 2020|accessdate=19 November 2021}} Modern PFI Studios located in Šimanovci is nowadays Serbia's only major film studio complex.{{cite web|url=http://www.pfistudios.com/|title=pfi studios}} The Yugoslav Film Archive used to be former Yugoslavia's and now is Serbia's national film archive – with over 100 thousand film prints, it is among the five largest film archives in the world.{{cite web|url=http://www.kinoteka.org.rs/eng/arhiv/index.htm|title=New Page 2|access-date=27 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225081939/http://www.kinoteka.org.rs/eng/arhiv/index.htm|archive-date=25 February 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kinoteka.org.rs/arhiv-jugoslovenske-kinoteke/|title=Архив Југословенске кинотеке|website=www.kinoteka.org.rs|language=en-US|access-date=10 June 2019}}

Famous Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica won two Palmes d'Or for Best Feature Film at the Cannes Film Festival, for When Father Was Away on Business in 1985 and then again for Underground in 1995; he has also won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for Arizona Dream and a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Black Cat, White Cat.{{cite web |url=http://www.kustu.com/w2/en:biography |title=Emir Kusturica Bio |publisher=kustu.com |access-date=20 March 2013 |archive-date=15 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515083915/http://www.kustu.com/w2/en:biography |url-status=dead }} Other renowned directors include Dušan Makavejev, Želimir Žilnik (Golden Berlin Bear winner), Aleksandar Petrović, Živojin Pavlović, Goran Paskaljević, Goran Marković, Srđan Dragojević, Srdan Golubović and Mila Turajlić among others. Serbian-American screenwriter Steve Tesich won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1979.

Prominent movie stars in Serbia have left a celebrated heritage in the cinematography of Yugoslavia as well. Notable mentions are Zoran Radmilović, Pavle Vuisić, Ljubiša Samardžić, Olivera Marković, Mija Aleksić, Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, Ružica Sokić, Velimir Bata Živojinović, Danilo Bata Stojković, Seka Sablić, Dragan Nikolić, Mira Stupica, Nikola Simić, Bora Todorović, Nebojša Glogovac, Miloš Biković and others. Milena Dravić was one of the most celebrated actresses in Serbian cinematography, winning the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980.{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/serbian-film-icon-milena-dravic-dies-after-lengthy-illness/29542799.html|title=Serbian Film Icon Milena Dravic Dies After Lengthy Illness|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=14 October 2018 |language=en|access-date=26 April 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.blic.rs/kultura/vesti/prizrenska-svila-i-stari-srpski-nakit-kako-je-milena-dravic-haljinom-ocarala-kan/n0k31lg|title=Prizrenska svila i stari srpski nakit – Kako je Milena Dravić haljinom očarala Kan|website=Blic.rs|date=19 October 2018 |language=sr|access-date=18 September 2019}}

{{Main|Media of Serbia}}

Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are guaranteed by the constitution of Serbia.{{cite web|url=http://www.ustavni.sud.rs/page/view/sr-Latn-CS/70-100028/ustav-republike-srbije|title=Ustav Republike Srbije|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011080844/http://www.ustavni.sud.rs/page/view/sr-Latn-CS/70-100028/ustav-republike-srbije|archive-date=11 October 2014|url-status=dead}} Serbia is ranked 98th out of 180 countries in the 2024 Press Freedom Index report compiled by Reporters Without Borders.{{cite web |url=https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2019 |title=2019 World Press Freedom Index {{pipe}} RSF |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823155223/https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2019 |archive-date=23 August 2019 |url-status=dead }} The report noted that media outlets and journalists continue to face partisan and government pressure over editorial policies.{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2012/serbia|title=Serbia|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=10 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010142002/http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2012/serbia|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.zslaw.rs/milos-stojkovic-quoted-serbian-daily-newspaper/|title=Miloš Stojković Quoted in Serbian Daily Newspaper|last=Law|first=Z. S.|date=23 September 2016|website=ZS|language=en-US|access-date=21 September 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.kas.de/en/web/balkanmedia/newspapers9|title=Newspapers – BalkanmediaKonrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.|website=Balkanmedia|language=en|access-date=21 September 2019}}

According to EBU research in 2018, Serbs on average watch five and a half hours of television per day, making it the second highest average in Europe.{{cite web|url=https://www.rts.rs/page/magazine/sr/story/411/film-i-tv/3612995/internet-napreduje-ali-televizija-se-i-dalje-gleda.html|title = Internet napreduje, ali televizija se i dalje gleda}} There are seven nationwide free-to-air television channels, with public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) operating three (RTS1, RTS2 and RTS3) and private broadcasters operating four (Pink, Prva, Happy, and O2).{{cite web|url=https://www.rts.rs/page/rts/sr/CIPA/story/171/istrazivanja/3823502/gledanost-televizije-u-2019-godini.html|title = Gledanost televizije u 2019. Godini}} There are 28 regional television channels and 74 local television channels. Besides terrestrial channels there are dozens of Serbian television channels available only on cable or satellite. These include regional news N1, commercial channel Nova S, and regional sports channels Sport Klub and Arena Sport, among others.

There are 247 radio stations in Serbia. Out of these, six are radio stations with national coverage, including two of public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (Radio Belgrade 1 and Radio Belgrade 2/Radio Belgrade 3) and four private ones (Radio S1, Radio S2, Play Radio, and Radio Hit FM). Also, there are 34 regional stations and 207 local stations.{{cite web|url=http://www.rra.org.rs/pages/browse_permits/cirilica/national|title=Национално покривање|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=10 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010021633/http://www.rra.org.rs/pages/browse_permits/cirilica/national|url-status=dead}}

There are 305 newspapers published in Serbia{{cite web |url=http://pod2.stat.gov.rs/ObjavljenePublikacije/G2016/pdf/G20162019.pdf |title=Statistical Yearbook|date=2016 |website=pod2.stat.gov.rs |publisher=PBC}} of which 12 are daily newspapers. Dailies {{Lang|sr-latn|Politika}} and Danas are Serbia's papers of record, the former being the oldest newspaper in the Balkans, founded in 1904.{{cite web|url=http://www.politika.rs/Stranice/O-nama.lt.html|title=O nama|access-date=27 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017043736/http://www.politika.rs/Stranice/O-nama.lt.html|archive-date=17 October 2014}} Highest circulation newspapers are tabloids Večernje Novosti, Blic, Kurir, and Informer, all with more than 100,000 copies sold.{{cite web|url=http://www.color.rs/novosti85.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715034322/http://www.color.rs/novosti85.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 July 2013|title=ABC Srbije, maj 2013: Tiraž "Scandala" porastao 17% u odnosu na prošli mesec!|access-date=27 October 2014}} There is one daily newspaper devoted to sports (Sportski žurnal), one business daily (Privredni pregled), two regional newspapers (Dnevnik published in Novi Sad and Narodne novine from Niš), and one minority-language daily (Magyar Szo in Hungarian, published in Subotica).

There are 1,351 magazines published in the country. These include: weekly news magazines NIN, Vreme and Nedeljnik; popular science magazine Politikin Zabavnik; women's magazine Lepota & Zdravlje; auto magazine SAT revija; and IT magazine Svet kompjutera. In addition, there is a wide selection of Serbian editions of international magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, Elle, Men's Health, National Geographic, Le Monde diplomatique, Playboy, and Hello!, among others.

The main news agencies are Tanjug, Beta and Fonet.

{{As of|2017}}, out of 432 web-portals (mainly on the .rs domain){{cite web|url=http://rs.n1info.com/a362472/Vesti/Vesti/Povecan-broj-medija-u-Srbiji-u-odnosu-na-2016.-godinu.html|title=Povećan broj medija u Srbiji, 250 više nego 2016. godine|access-date=6 February 2018|archive-date=19 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819161352/http://rs.n1info.com/a362472/Vesti/Vesti/Povecan-broj-medija-u-Srbiji-u-odnosu-na-2016.-godinu.html|url-status=dead}} the most visited are online editions of printed dailies Blic and Kurir, news web-portal B92 and classifieds KupujemProdajem.{{cite web|url=http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries;1/RS|title=Alexa – Top Sites in Serbia|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=25 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825091115/http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries;1/Rs|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Serbian cuisine}}

File:Christmas table (Serbian cuisine).jpg and red wine]]

File:"Moskva slices" cake in Hotel Moskva, Belgrade 07.jpg, a cake made with fruits and almonds{{Cite web |title=ЈЕДЕ ВАМ СЕ МОСКВА ШНИТ? Откривамо вам оригинални рецепт којем НЕЋЕТЕ ОДОЛЕТИ! |url=https://www.dnevnik.rs/magazin/gastro/jede-vam-se-moskva-snit-otkrivamo-vam-originalni-recept-kojem-necete-odoleti-14-01 |access-date=27 July 2024 |website=Дневник |date=14 January 2024 |language=sr}}{{cite web |title=Kafe Poslastičarnica |url=https://hotelmoskva.rs/sr/poslasticarnica/ |website=hotelmoskva.rs |access-date=27 June 2024}}]] Serbian cuisine is largely heterogeneous in a way characteristic of the Balkans and, especially, the former Yugoslavia. It features foods characteristic of lands formerly under Turkish suzerainty as well as cuisine originating from other parts of Central Europe (especially Austria and Hungary). Food is very important in Serbian social life, particularly during religious holidays such as Christmas, Easter and feast days i.e. slava.{{sfn|Meynink|2011|p=330}}

Staples of the Serbian diet include bread, meat, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Bread plays an important role in Serbian cuisine and can be found in religious rituals. A traditional Serbian welcome is to offer bread and salt to guests. Meat is widely consumed, as is fish. The southern Serbian city of Leskovac is host to Roštiljijada, considered the biggest barbecue festival in the Balkans.{{cite web | title=Biggest meat feast opens in Serbian barbecue capital of Leskovac – English.news.cn | website=Xinhua | date=21 March 2017 | url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-08/29/c_136563246.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200712/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-08/29/c_136563246.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=24 June 2021 | access-date=19 June 2021}}

Other Serbian specialties include ćevapčići (grilled and seasoned caseless sausages made from minced meat), pljeskavica (grilled spiced meat patty made from a mixture of pork, beef and lamb), gibanica (cheese pie), burek (baked pastry made from a thin flaky dough that is stuffed with meat, cheese or vegetables), sarma (stuffed cabbage), punjena paprika (stuffed pepper), moussaka (casserole made from minced meat, eggs, and potatoes), Karađorđeva šnicla (veal or pork schnitzel that is stuffed with kajmak), đuveč (meat and vegetable stew), pasulj (bean soup), podvarak (roast meat with sauerkraut), ajvar (roasted red pepper spread), kajmak (dairy product similar to clotted cream), čvarci (variant of pork rinds), proja (cornbread) and kačamak (maize porridge).{{sfn|Meynink|2011|pp=329–330}}

Serbians claim their country as the birthplace of rakia (rakija), a highly alcoholic drink primarily distilled from fruit. Rakia in various forms is found throughout the Balkans, notably in Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Hungary and Turkey. Slivovitz (šljivovica), a plum brandy, is a type of rakia which is considered the national drink of Serbia.{{cite web |url=http://www.serbia.travel/about-serbia/typically-serbian/food/ |title=Food |publisher=serbia.travel |access-date=20 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420144616/https://www.serbia.travel/about-serbia/typically-serbian/food/ |archive-date=20 April 2013 }} In 2021, Serbia's sljivovica was added to the United Nations Intangible Cultural Heritage List as a "cherished tradition to be preserved by humanity".{{cite news |title=Cheers! Serbia's plum brandy gets UN world heritage status |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/cheers-serbias-plum-brandy-gets-un-world-heritage-status/2022/12/01/96da2fe0-7173-11ed-867c-8ec695e4afcd_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=Associated Press |date=1 December 2022}}

Serbian wines are produced in 22 different geographical regions, with white wine dominating the total amount.{{Cite conference |last1=Vlahović |first1=Branislav| first2=ANTON |last2=PUŠKARIĆ|first3=BRANKA |last3=MAKSIMOVIĆ |date=December 2009|title=COMPETITIVENESS OF WINE EXPORT FROM THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA |url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/57495/2/Vlahovic%20Branislav%20cover.pdf |conference=113th EAAE Seminar "THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE, INNOVATION AND HUMAN CAPITAL IN MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURE AND TERRITORIAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT", Belgrade, Republic of Serbia, 9–11 December 2009 |page=2}} Besides rakia and wine, beer is a very popular alcoholic beverage in the country.{{cite web | title=Serbia: essential information | website=The Guardian | date=8 December 2006 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/dec/08/serbia.essentialinfo | access-date=19 June 2021}} Pale lagers are currently and have been the traditional beer choice for Serbians.{{cite web | title=A Guide to Lagers » Brewer World-Everything about beer is here | website=Brewer World-Everything about beer is here | date=5 April 2021 | url=https://www.brewer-world.com/a-guide-to-lagers/ | access-date=19 June 2021}} The most popular domestic brands of beer are Jelen, followed by Lav.{{cite book | last=Christie | first=Jordanne | title=Jelen | publisher=Open Library Publishing Platform – Pressbooks for Ontario's Postsecondary Educators | date=2 November 2019 | url=https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/gned1478/chapter/jelen/ | access-date=19 June 2021 | archive-date=24 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201225/https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/gned1478/chapter/jelen/ | url-status=dead }}{{cite web | title=Products " LAV " LAV " Carlsberg Group | website=Carlsberg Group | url=https://www.carlsberggroup.com/products/lav/lav/ | access-date=19 June 2021}}{{cite web | title=Karslberg ulaže 15 mil. € u Srbiju – Biz | website=B92.net | date=20 August 2007 | url=https://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2007&mm=08&dd=20&nav_id=259984 | language=hr | access-date=19 June 2021}}

As in the rest of the former Yugoslavia, coffee drinking is an important cultural and social practice and Serbian coffee (a local variant of Turkish coffee) is the most commonly consumed non-alcoholic beverage.{{cite web |title=Coffee culture in Belgrade and Serbia |date=18 September 2013 |url=http://belgrademyway.com/coffee-culture-in-belgrade-and-serbia/ |access-date=2 May 2023 |website=Belgrade My Way}}

{{Main|Sport in Serbia}}

{{multiple images

| footer = Tennis player Novak Djokovic holds the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam men's singles titles; Nikola Jokić (right), is a three-time NBA MVP

| image1 = Novak Djoković Trophy Wimbledon 2019-croped and edited.jpg

| image2 = Nikola Jokic free throw (cropped).jpg

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File:Campeões!.jpg held the Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, World Cup and World League titles simultaneously from 2014 to 2016]]

Serbia has hosted a number of major international sport competitions. The most important annual sporting events in the country are the Belgrade Marathon and the Tour de Serbie cycling race.

Football is the most popular sport in Serbia, with the Football Association of Serbia being the largest sporting association, with 146,845 registered players.{{cite web|url=http://www.fss.rs/index.php?id=3011|title=Football Association of Serbia – Official Web Site|access-date=27 October 2014}} Dragan Džajić was recognised as "the best Serbian player of all time" by the association. More recently, players like Nemanja Vidić, Dejan Stanković, Branislav Ivanović, Aleksandar Kolarov, Nemanja Matić, Dušan Tadić and Aleksandar Mitrović have achieved significant success in the UEFA Champions League, boosting Serbia's reputation as a leading exporter of footballers.{{cite web |url=http://soccerlens.com/serbias-endless-list-of-wonder-kids/39911/ |work=SportsLens |date=27 January 2010 |title=Serbia's Endless List of Wonderkids |access-date=9 May 2022}}{{Cite journal|last1=Poli|last2=Loïc|last3=Roger|first1=Raffaele|first2=Ravenel|first3=Besson|date=October 2015|title=Exporting countries in world football|url=http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG/pdf/mr08_eng.pdf|journal=CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report|page=2}} The national team has qualified for three of the last four FIFA World Cups but lacks significant success. Serbia's two main football clubs, Red Star Belgrade and Partizan, have storied histories, with Red Star winning the 1990–91 European Cup and Partizan reaching the 1965–66 European Cup final. Their rivalry is known as the "Eternal Derby".{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45578624|title=Partizan v Red Star Belgrade: The derby which divides and unites a country|date=21 September 2018|access-date=26 April 2019|language=en-GB}}

The country is a powerhouse in world basketball, with the men's national team winning two World Championships, three EuroBasket titles, two Olympic silver medals, and a bronze medal in 2024. The women's team has won two EuroBasket Women titles and an Olympic bronze medal. Serbia's men's 3x3 team has won six FIBA 3x3 World Cups and five FIBA 3x3 Europe Cups. A total of 34 Serbian players have played in the NBA over the last three decades, including Nikola Jokić, a three-time NBA MVP and 2023 NBA Finals MVP.{{cite magazine |last1=Gordon |first1=Anna |title=How Serbia Produces Great Basketball Players Like Nikola Jokić |url=https://time.com/6284066/nba-finals-nikola-jokic-serbia/ |magazine=Time |publisher=Time Magazine |date=1 June 2023}} The "Serbian coaching school" has produced many of Europe's most successful basketball coaches, including Željko Obradović, who has won a record 9 Euroleague titles. KK Partizan won the 1992 EuroLeague, and KK Crvena zvezda won the 1974 FIBA Saporta Cup.

The Serbia men's national water polo team is one of the most successful, with three Olympic gold medals, three World Championships, and seven European Championships.{{cite web|url=http://www.waterpoloserbia.org/index.php?id=454&L=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sacred-fr.com%2Fforums%2Fimages%2Favatars%2Fopakoso%2Ftagugex |title=Osvojene medalje |publisher=waterpoloserbia.org |access-date=20 March 2013}} VK Partizan has won seven Champions League titles.

The recent success of Serbian tennis players, especially Novak Djokovic, who holds a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, has led to a surge in the sport's popularity in Serbia. Djokovic has held the No. 1 ATP ranking for a record 428 weeks and achieved a Career Super Slam with his Olympic gold in 2024. Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Janković and Nenad Zimonjić have also been ranked No. 1 in the WTA rankings.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=5887226|title=Serbia wins first Davis Cup title|date=5 December 2010|website=ESPN|access-date=6 December 2010}} The men's national tennis team won the 2010 Davis Cup and 2020 ATP Cup.

Serbia's men's national volleyball team won the 2000 Olympic gold medal, three European Championships, and the 2016 FIVB Volleyball World League. The women's team has won two World Championships, three European Championships, and two Olympic medals.

Serbian chess players excelled from 1950 to 1980, winning 15 Olympic medals. The men's team won the 2023 European Team Competition, and women's clubs have won the European Champions Cup five times.{{Cite web |last=admin |date=30 November 2020 |title=Istorijat {{!}} Šahovski savez Srbije |url=https://serbiachess.org/istojijat/ |access-date=21 November 2023 |language=en-US}} Svetozar Gligorić and Ljubomir Ljubojević were among the world's best players outside the USSR.{{Cite web |last=Janković |first=Olga |title=Sada je Pančevo na potezu |url=https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/383170/Sada-je-Pancevo-na-potezu |access-date=20 August 2024 |website=Politika Online}}{{Cite web |title=NAJVEĆI DŽENTLMEN JUGOSLOVENSKOG SPORTA: Svetozar Gligorić - Novak Đoković 20. veka (FOTO/VIDEO) |url=https://mondo.me/Sport/Ostali-sportovi/a862545/NAJVECI-DZENTLMEN-JUGOSLOVENSKOG-SPORTA.html |access-date=20 August 2024 |website=Mondo Crna Gora |language=en-US}}

Notable Serbian athletes include sport shooters Jasna Šekarić and Damir Mikec, handball player Svetlana Kitić, volleyball player Nikola Grbić, swimmer Milorad Čavić, track and field athlete Ivana Španović, wrestler Davor Štefanek, and taekwondoist Milica Mandić.{{cite web |title=Sportin.ba ...najbrže sportske vijesti - Svetlana Kitić najbolja rukometašica Svijeta svih vremena |url=http://sportin.ba/tekst.aspx?id=28727 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806192459/http://www.sportin.ba/tekst.aspx?id=28727 |archive-date=6 August 2010 |access-date=4 August 2010}}

• Index of Serbia-related articles
• Outline of Serbia

{{notelist}}

{{NoteFoot}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book|editor-last = Bataković |editor-first = Dušan T. |editor-link = Dušan T. Bataković |title = Histoire du peuple serbe |trans-title = History of the Serbian People |language = fr |year = 2005 |location = Lausanne |publisher = L'Age d'Homme |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a0jA_LdH6nsC |isbn = 978-2-8251-1958-7 }}
• {{cite book|last=Bronza |first=Boro |chapter = The Habsburg Monarchy and the Projects for Division of the Ottoman Balkans, 1771–1788 |title = Empires and Peninsulas: Southeastern Europe between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699–1829 |year = 2010 |location = Berlin |publisher= LIT Verlag |pages = 51–62 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Cz7pbGvCqhwC |isbn = 978-3-643-10611-7 }}
• {{cite book|last1=Čanak-Medić |first1=Milka |last2=Todić |first2=Branislav |title = The Monastery of the Patriarchate of Peć |year=2017 |location = Novi Sad |publisher = Platoneum, Beseda |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=91u8vQEACAAJ |isbn = 978-86-85869-83-9 }}
• {{cite book|last=Chapman |first=John |title = The Vinča Culture of South-East Europe: Studies in Chronology, Economy and Society |year=1981 |volume=1 |location=Oxford |publisher=BAR |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pwSvvQEACAAJ |isbn=978-0-86054-139-4 }}
• {{cite book|last=Ćirković |first=Sima |author-link = Sima Ćirković |year=2004 |title = The Serbs |location=Malden |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2Wc-DWRzoeIC |isbn=978-1-4051-4291-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Cox |first=John K. |title = The History of Serbia |year=2002 |location = Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U765FGDfbPoC |isbn=978-0-313-31290-8 }}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Dragnich |editor-first = Alex N. |title = Serbia's Historical Heritage |year=1994 |location = New York, NY |publisher=Columbia University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OW5pAAAAMAAJ |isbn=978-0-88033-244-6 }}
• {{cite book|last=Dragnich |first = Alex N. |title = Serbia Through the Ages |year=2004 |location=Boulder |publisher = East European Monographs |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d3dpAAAAMAAJ |isbn=978-0-88033-541-6 }}
• {{cite book|last = Fine |first = John Van Antwerp Jr. |author-link = John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. |title = The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century |year=1991 |orig-year=1983 |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |publisher=University of Michigan Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C |isbn=0-472-08149-7 }}
• {{cite book|last=Fine |first = John Van Antwerp Jr. |author-link = John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. |title = The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest |year=1994 |orig-year=1987 |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |publisher=University of Michigan Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LvVbRrH1QBgC |isbn=0-472-08260-4 }}
• {{cite book|last=Fotić |first=Aleksandar |chapter=Serbian Orthodox Church |title=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire|year=2008 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Infobase Publishing |pages=519–520 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC |isbn=978-1-4381-1025-7 }}
• {{cite book|last=Hall |first=Richard C. |title=The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: Prelude to the First World War |edition=1st |year=2000 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IuWAAgAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-134-58363-8 }}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Ivić |editor-first=Pavle |editor-link = Pavle Ivić |title=The History of Serbian Culture |year=1995 |location=Edgware |publisher=Porthill Publishers |isbn=978-1-870732-31-4 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7nItAQAAIAAJ }}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Janićijević |editor-first=Jovan |title=Serbian Culture Through Centuries: Selected List of Recommended Reading |year=1990 |location=Belgrade |publisher=Yugoslav Authors' Agency |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7c8yAAAAIAAJ }}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Janićijević |editor-first=Jovan |title = The Cultural Treasury of Serbia |year=1998 |location=Belgrade |publisher = Idea, Vojnoizdavački zavod, Markt system |isbn=978-86-7547-039-7 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rHYMAQAAMAAJ }}
• {{cite book|last=Jelavich |first=Barbara |author-link = Barbara Jelavich |title = History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries |volume=1 |year=1983a |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qR4EeOrTm-0C |isbn=978-0-521-27458-6 }}
• {{cite book|last=Jelavich |first=Barbara |author-link = Barbara Jelavich |title = History of the Balkans: Twentieth Century |volume=2 |year=1983b |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-27459-3 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Hd-or3qtqrsC }}
• {{cite book|last=Katić |first=Tatjana |title=Tursko osvajanje Srbije 1690. godine |trans-title=The Ottoman Conquest of Serbia in 1690. |year=2012 |location=Belgrade |publisher=Srpski genealoski centar |language=sr |isbn=978-86-83679-73-7 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34526312}}
• {{cite book|last=Kia |first=Mehrdad |title = Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire |year=2011 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-06402-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQKRtpZmX0EC}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Kuzmanović |first1=Zorica |last2=Mihajlović |first2=Vladimir D. |title = Roman Emperors and Identity Constructions in Modern Serbia |journal = Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power |year=2015 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=416–432 |url = https://www.academia.edu/10452643 |doi=10.1080/1070289x.2014.969269 |s2cid=143637155 }}
• {{cite book|last=Meynink |first=Katrina |chapter=Serbia |title=Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia |year=2011 |volume=4 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=Greenwood |pages=327–331 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zG1H75z0EYYC |isbn=978-0-313-37627-6 }}
• {{cite book|last=Miller |first=Nicholas |chapter=Serbia and Montenegro |title=Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture |year=2005 |volume=3 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, California |pages=529–581 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lVBB1a0rC70C |isbn=978-1-57607-800-6 }}
• {{cite book|last=Mitrović |first=Andrej |author-link = Andrej Mitrović |title = Serbia's Great War 1914–1918 |year=2007 |location=West Lafayette |publisher=Purdue University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CI5Wm8771EYC |isbn=978-1-55753-476-7 }}
• {{cite book|last=Mirković |first=Miroslava B. |title = Sirmium: Its History from the First Century AD to 582 AD |year=2017 |location = Novi Sad |publisher = Center for Historical Research |url = http://digitalna.ff.uns.ac.rs/sadrzaj/2017/978-86-6065-375-0 }}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Moravcsik |editor-first=Gyula |editor-link=Gyula Moravcsik |title=Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio |year=1967 |orig-year=1949 |edition=2nd revised |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3al15wpFWiMC |isbn=978-0-88402-021-9 }}
• {{cite book|last=Ostrogorsky |first=Georgeb|author-link=George Ostrogorsky |year=1956 |title=History of the Byzantine State |location=Oxford |publisher=Basil Blackwell |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ }}
• {{cite book|last=Papazoglu |first=Fanulab|author-link=Fanula Papazoglu |title = The Central Balkan Tribes in pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians |year=1978 |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Hakkert |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Up4JAQAAIAAJ |isbn=978-90-256-0793-7 }}
• {{cite book|last=Pavlowitch |first=Stevan K. |author-link=Stevan K. Pavlowitch |title = Serbia: The History behind the Name |year=2002 |location=London |publisher=Hurst & Company |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w-RuLDaNwbMC |isbn=978-1-85065-477-3 }}
• {{cite book|last=Pavlowitch |first=Stevan K. |author-link=Stevan K. Pavlowitch |title = Hitler's New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia |year=2008 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Columbia University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dI9pAAAAMAAJ |isbn=978-0-231-70050-4 }}
• {{cite book|last=Pešalj |first=Jovan |chapter = Early 18th-Century Peacekeeping: How Habsburgs and Ottomans Resolved Several Border Disputes after Karlowitz |title = Empires and Peninsulas: Southeastern Europe between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699–1829 |year=2010 |location=Berlin |publisher=LIT Verlag |pages=29–42 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Cz7pbGvCqhwC |isbn=978-3-643-10611-7 }}
• {{cite book|last=Radosavljević |first = Nedeljko V. |author-link = Nedeljko V. Radosavljević |chapter = The Serbian Revolution and the Creation of the Modern State: The Beginning of Geopolitical Changes in the Balkan Peninsula in the 19th Century |title = Empires and Peninsulas: Southeastern Europe between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699–1829 |year=2010 |location=Berlin |publisher=LIT Verlag |pages=171–178 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Cz7pbGvCqhwC |isbn=978-3-643-10611-7 }}
• {{cite book|last=Rajić |first=Suzana |chapter = Serbia – the Revival of the Nation-state, 1804–1829: From Turkish Provinces to Autonomous Principality |title = Empires and Peninsulas: Southeastern Europe between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699–1829 |year=2010 |location=Berlin |publisher = LIT Verlag |pages=143–148 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Cz7pbGvCqhwC |isbn=978-3-643-10611-7 }}
• {{cite journal|last1=Roksandic |first1=Mirjana |display-authors=et al. |title = A human mandible (BH-1) from the Pleistocene deposits of Mala Balanica cave (Sićevo Gorge, Niš, Serbia) |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |year=2011 |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=186–196 |url = https://www.academia.edu/538946 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.03.003 |pmid=21507461 |bibcode=2011JHumE..61..186R }}
• {{cite book|last=Runciman |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Runciman |title=The Great Church in Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Greek War of Independence |location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1968 |isbn=978-0-521-07188-8 |edition=1st |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WxsrAAAAIAAJ }}
• {{cite book|editor1-last=Samardžić |editor1-first=Radovan |editor1-link=Radovan Samardžić |editor2-last=Duškov |editor2-first=Milan |title = Serbs in European Civilization |year=1993 |location=Belgrade |publisher = Nova, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for Balkan Studies |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=O3MtAQAAIAAJ |isbn=978-86-7583-015-3 }}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Scholz|editor-first=Bernhard Walter |title=Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories |year=1970|publisher=University of Michigan Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sTzl6wFjehMC |isbn=0-472-06186-0}}
• {{cite journal|last=Sotirović|first=Vladislav B. |title = The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in the Ottoman Empire: The First Phase (1557–94) |journal=Serbian Studies: Journal of the North American Society for Serbian Studies |year=2011|volume=25|issue=2|pages=143–169 |url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265712072 |doi=10.1353/ser.2011.0038 |s2cid=143629322 }}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Srejović |editor-first=Dragoslav |editor-link=Dragoslav Srejović |title = The Neolithic of Serbia: Archaeological Research 1948–1988 |year=1988 |location=Belgrade |publisher=Centre for archaeological research |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lINCAAAAYAAJ }}
• {{cite book|last=Stavrianos|first=Leften|author-link=Leften Stavrianos|title=The Balkans Since 1453|year=2000|orig-year=1958|location=London|publisher=Hurst |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xcp7OXQE0FMC |isbn=978-1-85065-551-0 }}
• {{cite book|last=Stipčević|first=Aleksandar |title = The Illyrians: History and Culture |year=1977 |location=Park Ridge, NJ |publisher=Noyes Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NLcWAQAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-8155-5052-5 }}
• {{cite book|last=Todorović|first=Jelena |title = An Orthodox Festival Book in the Habsburg Empire: Zaharija Orfelin's Festive Greeting to Mojsej Putnik (1757) |year=2006 |location=Aldershot |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QS09ShbJ-vQC |isbn=978-0-7546-5611-1 }}
• {{cite book|last=Turlej|first=Stanisław|title=Justiniana Prima: An Underestimated Aspect of Justinian's Church Policy|year=2016|location=Krakow|publisher=Jagiellonian University Press |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=C2yYDQAAQBAJ |isbn=978-83-233-9556-0 }}
• {{cite book |first1=Dragoljub|last1=Zamurović|first2=Ilja|last2=Slani|first3=Madge|last3=Phillips-Tomašević |title = Serbia: life and customs |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wXAMAQAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=ULUPUDS |isbn=978-86-82893-05-9 }}
• {{cite book |last1 = A ́goston |first1= Ga ́bor |last2= Masters |first2= Bruce Alan |title = Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |year=2010 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn= 978-1-4381-1025-7 }}
• {{cite book |last = Riley-Smith |first = Jonathan |author-link = Jonathan Riley-Smith |title = The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-285428-5 }}
• {{cite book |last = Rodriguez |first = Junius P. |author-link = Junius P. Rodriguez |title= The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades |year=1997 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn= 978-0-87436-885-7}}
• {{Cite book|last=Hupchick|first=Dennis P.|year=2017|title=The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony: Silver-Lined Skulls and Blinded Armies|location=New York|publisher=Springer|isbn=9783319562063|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wa4sDwAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book |last = Deliso | first = Christopher | year = 2009 | title = Culture and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | location = Westport, Connecticut | isbn = 978-0-313-34436-7}}
• {{cite book | last = Haag | first = John | editor-last = Commire | editor-first = Anne | year = 2002 | title = Women in World History | chapter = Desanka Maksimović (1898–1993) | volume = 10 | publisher = Gale Publishing | location = Farmington Hills, Michigan | isbn = 978-0-78764-069-9 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/womeninworldhist10comm/page/120 120]–124 | url = https://archive.org/details/womeninworldhist10comm | url-access = registration}}
• {{cite book | last = Hawkesworth | first = Celia | year = 2000 | title = Voices in the Shadows: Women and Verbal Art in Serbia and Bosnia | publisher = Central European University Press | location = Budapest, Hungary | isbn = 978-9-63911-662-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rGSqi3EKxL4C}}
• {{cite book | last = Juraga | first = Dubravka | editor1-last = Willhardt | editor1-first = Mark | editor2-last = Parker | editor2-first = Alan Michael | year = 2002 | orig-year = 2000 | title = Who's Who in Twentieth-Century World Poetry | chapter = Maksimović, Desanka | publisher = Routledge | location = London, England | isbn = 978-0-41516-356-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kxOodeGeNQQC | page = 204}}
• {{cite news | last = Lucić | first = J. | date = 2007 | title = Spomenik na Tašu najomiljenijoj pesnikinji 20. veka | publisher = Politika | url = http://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/29645/%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%A2%D0%B0%D1%88%D1%83-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%98%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%99%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%BE%D1%98-%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%9A%D0%B8-20-%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B0. | access-date = 30 May 2017}}
• {{cite book | last = Snel | first = Guido | editor1-last = Cornis-Pope | editor1-first = Marcel | editor2-last = Neubauer | editor2-first = John | year = 2004 | title = History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Junctures and Disjunctures in the 19th and 20th Centuries | chapter = The Footsteps of Gavrilo Princip | volume = 1 | publisher = John Benjamins Publishing | location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | isbn = 978-90-27234-52-0 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pV6sFB-KuU8C&pg=PA209}}
• {{cite book | author1-last = Šuber | author1-first = Daniel | author2-first = Slobodan | author2-last = Karamanić | editor1-last = Šuber | editor1-first = Daniel | editor2-first = Slobodan | editor2-last = Karamanić | year = 2012 | title = Retracing Images: Visual Culture After Yugoslavia | chapter = Symbolic Landscape, Violence and the Normalization Process in Post-Milošević Serbia | publisher = BRILL | location = Leiden, Netherlands | isbn = 978-9-00421-030-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw8RfHq7_P4C}}
• {{cite book | last = Vidan | first = Aida | editor1-last = Greene | editor1-first = Roland | editor2-last = Cushman | editor2-first = Stephen | year = 2016 | title = The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries | chapter = Serbian Poetry | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton, New Jersey | isbn = 978-1-40088-063-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dC7FCgAAQBAJ | pages = 492–494}}
• {{CIA World Factbook}}

{{refend}}

{{Sister project links|Serbia|s=Portal:Serbia|voy=Serbia|c=Србија|n=Category:Serbia|d=Q403|b=no|v=no}}

• {{Official website|1=http://www.srbija.gov.rs/?change_lang=en}}
• [http://www.serbia.travel/ National tourist organisation of Serbia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120829212325/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/serbia.htm Serbia] from UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived 29 August 2012)
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17907947 Serbia profile] from BBC News
• {{wikiatlas|Serbia}}
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• [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=RS Key Development Forecasts for Serbia] from International Futures
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/serbia/ Serbia]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140410021653/http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/europe-central-asia/serbia/business-corruption-in-serbia.aspx Serbia Corruption Profile] from The Business Anti-Corruption Portal (archived 10 April 2014)
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